Mells War Memorial is a

First World War memorial World War I is remembered and commemorated by various war memorials, including civic memorials, larger national monuments, war cemeteries, private memorials and a range of utilitarian designs such as halls and parks, dedicated to remembering th ...

by Sir

Edwin Lutyens Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens ( ; 29 March 1869 – 1 January 1944) was an English architect known for imaginatively adapting traditional architectural styles to the requirements of his era. He designed many English country houses, war memorials ...

in the village of Mells in the

Mendip Hills The Mendip Hills (commonly called the Mendips) is a range of limestone hills to the south of Bristol and Bath, Somerset, Bath in Somerset, England. Running from Weston-super-Mare and the Bristol Channel in the west to the River Frome, Somerset ...

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

, south-western England. Unveiled in 1921, the memorial is one of multiple buildings and structures Lutyens designed in Mells. His friendship with two prominent families in the area, the Horners and the Asquiths, led to a series of commissions; among his other works in the village are memorials to two sons—one from each family—killed in the war. Lutyens toured the village with local dignitaries in search of a suitable site for the war memorial, after which he was prompted to remark "all their young men were killed". The memorial takes the form of a marble column topped by a sculpture of

Saint George Saint George (;Geʽez: ጊዮርጊስ, , ka, გიორგი, , , died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to holy tradition, he was a soldier in the ...

slaying a dragon, an image Lutyens used on two other public war memorials. At the base of the column, the names of the village's war dead are inscribed on stone panels. The memorial is flanked by identical rubble walls in local stone, on top of which grows a yew hedge. Low stone benches protrude from the walls to allow wreaths to be laid. Additional panels were fixed to the wall after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

to commemorate that conflict. The memorial was unveiled on 26 June 1921 by Brigadier-General

Arthur Asquith Brigadier General Arthur Melland Asquith, (24 April 1883 – 25 August 1939) was a senior officer of the Royal Naval Division, a Royal Navy land detachment attached to the British Army during the First World War. His father, H. H. Asquith, was ...

, whose brother is among those commemorated on it. It is a grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

and since 2015 has been part of a national collection of Lutyens' war memorials.

Background

In the aftermath of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, thousands of war memorials were built across Britain. Amongst the most prominent designers of memorials was architect Sir

, described by

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked with prot ...

as "the leading English architect of his generation". Before the war, Lutyens established his reputation designing

country houses 300px, Oxfordshire.html" ;"title="Blenheim Palace - Oxfordshire">Blenheim Palace - Oxfordshire An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a To ...

for wealthy patrons, but from 1917 onwards, he dedicated much of his time to memorialising the casualties of the war. He went on to design

the Cenotaph The Cenotaph is a war memorial on Whitehall in London, England. Designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, it was unveiled in 1920 as the United Kingdom's national memorial to the dead of Britain and the British Empire of the First World War, was rededica ...

on Whitehall in London, which became the focus for the national Remembrance Sunday commemorations and the

Thiepval Memorial to the Missing The Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme is a war memorial to 72,337 missing British and South African servicemen who died in the Battles of the Somme of the First World War between 1915 and 1918, with no known grave. It is near the ...

of the Somme in France, among many other memorials and cemeteries. According to Tim Skelton, author of ''Lutyens and the Great War'', "if there was one village above all others that would have a war memorial designed by Lutyens, it would be the village of Mells".Skelton, p. 81. The war memorial is one of multiple buildings and structures by Lutyens in the village. He was a friend of two prominent local families, the Horners and the Asquiths, through his collaborations with

Gertrude Jekyll Gertrude Jekyll ( ; 29 November 1843 – 8 December 1932) was a British Horticulture, horticulturist, garden designer, craftswoman, photographer, writer and artist. She created over 400 gardens in the United Kingdom, Europe and the United Sta ...

on country houses and gardens early in his career. Gertrude Jekyll's sister-in-law was Dame

Agnes Jekyll Dame Agnes Lowndes Jekyll, ( Graham; 12 October 1861 – 28 January 1937) was a Scottish-born British artist, writer and philanthropist. The daughter of William Graham, Liberal MP for Glasgow (1865–1874) and patron of the Pre-Raphae ...

, the sister of Lady Horner, who was the incumbent owner (with her husband, Sir John) of

Mells Manor Mells Manor at Mells, Somerset, England, was built in the 16th century for Edward Horner, altered in the 17th century, partially demolished around 1780, and restored by Sir Edwin Lutyens in the 20th century. The house, along with the garden walls ...

, a manor house in the centre of the village dating originally from the 16th century. Shortly after their first meeting, Sir John commissioned Lutyens for renovations to the Horners' London town house. Lutyens first visited Mells in 1896 at the request of Lady Horner (with whom he became close friends), who commissioned him to rebuild the house, and later for several other works related to the manor. The Horners' son, Edward, was killed at the Battle of Cambrai on the Western Front in November 1917 and is among those named on the war memorial. The family separately commissioned Lutyens to design a memorial to him in

St Andrew's Church St. Andrew's Church, Church of St Andrew, or variants thereof, may refer to: Albania * St. Andrew's Church, Himarë Australia Australian Capital Territory * St Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Canberra, founded by John Walker (Presbyterian minis ...

—a large statue of a mounted cavalry officer (by

Alfred Munnings Sir Alfred James Munnings, (8 October 1878 – 17 July 1959) is known as having been one of England's finest painters of horses, and as an outspoken critic of Modernism. Engaged by Lord Beaverbrook's Canadian War Memorials Fund after the Gre ...

), which stands on a plinth by Lutyens based on the Cenotaph. In the same church is a memorial to

Raymond Asquith Raymond Herbert Asquith (6 November 1878 – 15 September 1916) was an English barrister and eldest son of British prime minister H. H. Asquith. A distinguished Oxford scholar, he was a member of the fashionable group of intellectuals known as ...

(the Horners' son-in-law and the eldest son of the prime minister,

H. H. Asquith Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith (12 September 1852 – 15 February 1928) was a British statesman and Liberal Party (UK), Liberal politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1908 to 1916. He was the last ...

), designed by Lutyens and executed by

Eric Gill Arthur Eric Rowton Gill (22 February 1882 – 17 November 1940) was an English sculptor, letter cutter, typeface designer, and printmaker. Although the ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' describes Gill as "the greatest artist-craftsma ...

. Raymond was killed in the

Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme (; ), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and the French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place between 1 July and 18 Nove ...

in 1916. Both men are listed on the village war memorial. By 1916, 74 men from Mells had left to fight, and several women, including Lady Horner, were working as nurses in France. By the end of the war, 21 men had been killed and multiple others wounded. Among the returned was the curate of St Andrew's Church, who earned the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level until 1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) Other ranks (UK), other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth of ...

for saving a wounded soldier.

Commissioning

Mells' war dead were first commemorated by a stone tablet on a wall in St Andrew's Church, designed by the

Kensington School of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the United Kingdom. It offe ...

and listing the names of 14 villagers.Dakers, p. 209. The idea for a larger, public memorial originated with the Horner family, who called a public meeting to discuss the possibilities. The participants first considered whether the memorial should be something with a utilitarian function or something purely monumental. Suggestions for utilitarian memorials included benches, a fountain, a garden, and a children's playground, but they felt that the memorial should be something to be looked at and admired. After discussing various potential locations, including St Andrew's churchyard, they decided that the memorial should be on the road in a prominent position where it would be obvious to passers-by. As with most of his war memorial commissions, Lutyens walked around the village in August 1919 to examine possible sites for the memorial. He was accompanied by

Katharine Asquith Katharine Frances Asquith (; 9 September 18859 July 1976) was an English landowner and patron of the arts. During the First World War, she served as a Voluntary Aid Detachment nurse. She was the wife of Raymond Asquith and the daughter-in-law o ...

(Sir John and Lady Frances Horner's daughter and Raymond Asquith's widow) and a group of representatives from the village. Lutyens was moved by the villagers' personal loss and wrote in a letter to his wife, Emily: "My weekend was a spring day, fun and tears. All their young men were killed".Winter. p. 107. He told Emily he had "found a perfect site in the middle of the village, which no-one else found, or thought of, and with a little tact and patience it was carried by the villagers with acclaim".

Design

The memorial takes the form of a

Tuscan column The Tuscan order (Latin ''Ordo Tuscanicus'' or ''Ordo Tuscanus'', with the meaning of Etruscan order) is one of the two classical orders developed by the Romans, the other being the composite order. It is influenced by the Doric order, but wit ...

Purbeck Marble Purbeck Marble is a fossiliferous limestone found in the Isle of Purbeck, a peninsula in south-east Dorset, England. It is a variety of Purbeck stone that has been quarried since at least Roman times as a decorative building stone. Geology S ...

construction, on which stands a statue of

slaying a dragon. Lady Horner first hoped to have an original sculpture and approached several artists but all quotes she received would have exceeded the village's budget, so she instead commissioned a copy of a statue in the

Henry VII Chapel The Henry VII Lady Chapel, now more often known just as the Henry VII Chapel, is a large Lady chapel at the far eastern end of Westminster Abbey, England, paid for by the will of King Henry VII. It is separated from the rest of the abbey by br ...

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London, England. Since 1066, it has been the location of the coronations of 40 English and British m ...

. The column stands on a tall, narrow pedestal in

Portland stone Portland stone is a limestone geological formation (formally named the Portland Stone Formation) dating to the Tithonian age of the Late Jurassic that is quarried on the Isle of Portland in Dorset, England. The quarries are cut in beds of whi ...

that bears the inscription: , a verse suggested by

Robert Bridges Robert Seymour Bridges (23 October 1844 – 21 April 1930) was a British poet who was Poet Laureate from 1913 to 1930. A doctor by training, he achieved literary fame only late in life. His poems reflect a deep Christian faith, and he is ...

, the poet laureate, in correspondence with Lady Horner. A cross is engraved immediately above. To either side of the pedestal are matching panels onto which are inscribed the names of the village's war dead. At the same height are flanking walls of coarsed, squared rubble from the nearby

Doulting Stone Quarry Doulting Stone Quarry () is a limestone quarry at Doulting, on the Mendip Hills, Somerset, England. At present there are only three quarries quarrying Doulting stone. The largest, The Doulting Stone Quarry, was producing building stone in Roma ...

, set back at the ends and topped with a yew hedge. In front of each wall is a small stone bench that protrudes across the base of the column, and above the benches, fixed to the wall, are round plaques bearing the dates of the Second World War and the names of the village's dead from that conflict. The statue and the inscriptions are both the work of

, who also carved the memorial to Raymond Asquith. Colin Amery, who chaired an exhibition of Lutyens' works after his death, describes the memorials at Mells as among Lutyens' finest. Lutyens was profoundly affected by the war and sought a new form of architecture to memorialise the

Lost Generation The Lost Generation was the Demography, demographic Cohort (statistics), cohort that reached early adulthood during World War I, and preceded the Greatest Generation. The social generation is generally defined as people born from 1883 to 1900, ...

. He generally preferred abstract designs for his war memorials, of which he designed dozens, over allegorical or figurative sculpture or the overt religious imagery that was present in many First World War memorials. Mells is one of the few monuments in which he used such allegory (in this case, the statue of Saint George). It is the most intricate of Lutyens' civic memorials to feature a statue of Saint George, though his memorial inside

Wellington College Wellington College may refer to: New Zealand * Wellington College, Wellington, New Zealand * Wellington College of Education, now the Faculty of Education of Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand * Wellington Girls' College, Wellington, N ...

's chapel features a similar sculpture of George and the Dragon. Fordham War Memorial in Cambridgeshire and

Hove War Memorial Hove War Memorial is a First World War memorial designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens and located on Grand Avenue in Hove, part of the city of Brighton and Hove, on the south coast of England. Hove was the site of one of the earliest recruiting events ...

in East Sussex both feature less intricate bronze statues of George with a sword and shield. File:Mells War Memorial 2021-10-25 05.jpg, Left plaque File:Mells War Memorial 2021-10-25 03.jpg, Centre stone File:Mells War Memorial 2021-10-25 06.jpg, Column File:Mells War Memorial 2021-10-25 04.jpg, Right plaque

History

The memorial was unveiled at a ceremony on 26 June 1921. It cost £400 to build, which was raised by public subscription. The unveiling was performed by Brigadier-General

, brother of Raymond Asquith, who is commemorated on the memorial. General Asquith was later instrumental in the creation of Lutyens' Royal Naval Division War Memorial outside the Admiralty building in London. Mells War Memorial was designated a grade II*

on 1 January 1969 and noted for its setting with the

village hall A village hall is a public building in a rural or suburban community which functions as a community centre without a religious affiliation. United Kingdom In the United Kingdom, a village hall is a building which is owned by a local gover ...

(which is also listed at grade II*) and the various other historic buildings in the village, including several by Lutyens. Listed building status offers statutory protection from demolition or modification; grade II* is reserved for "particularly important buildings of more than special interest" and applied to about 5.5% of listings. In November 2015, as part of commemorations for the centenary of the First World War, Historic England recognised Lutyens' war memorials as a "national collection".

References

Bibliography * * * * * * * * * * * Citations {{Reflist, 30em Buildings and structures completed in 1921 Grade II* listed buildings in Mendip District Grade II* listed monuments and memorials Mells, Somerset Monuments and memorials in Somerset Statues in England Works of Edwin Lutyens in England War memorials by Edwin Lutyens World War I memorials in England Saint George and the Dragon

Background

Commissioning

Design

History

See also

References