Cenotaph architect Sir Edwin Lutyens’ Spalding war memorial set for repairs as South Holland District Council sets out plans

Council bosses have outlined how they will repair a nationally significant war memorial.

Concerns have been raised about the state of Spalding War Memorial – which was designed by Cenotaph architect Sir Edwin Lutyens – after crumbling stonework has been reported due to standing water.

The memorial, which stands at the end of the canal in Ayscoughfee Gardens, was built in the 1920s following a proposal put forward by Barbara McLaren, the wife of the MP Francis McLaren who died in a flying accident during the First World War.

South Holland District Council has now submitted a planning application to install a French drain in order to move sitting water away from the memorial, which was listed in 1975. It is also applying for funding to restore the memorial to its former glory.

The Heritage Impact Assessment stated: “The memorial itself is of significant historic interest, both because it is listed, and because it is an important work of a very significant British architect.

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“The installation of the French Drain will have minimal visual impact in its own right, but will provide a very significant benefit to the memorial that it is intended to protect.”

Damaged and eroded stonework has been seen on the base of the war memorial and there are issues with some rendered brickwork – which is thought to be caused by sitting water.

The application states: “It is considered that the installation of a French Drain outside of the perimeter stone band of the memorial will assist in capturing surface water and diverting this away from the memorial. The positive benefit of this would be that moisture levels adjacent the substructure of the memorial would decrease.

“In itself, this measure will not address low level erosion of the wall plinth, but it will improve conditions such that any subsequent repairs will have a greater and longer-lasting benefit.

“The perimeter stone band is in a poor state of repair, but its lifting and careful reinstatement will be of positive benefit to the memorial.”

The memorial had initially been constructed to commemorate the 224 men from the town who had died in the First World War but additional names were added to the pavilion in 2015.

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