Triptych 1914-18 Urban District Council Staff

Blyth Council Offices Seaforth Street, Blyth.

Transferred from Blyth Valley Borough Council Offices, Seaton Delaval.

Moved to present position in the Civic Centre in 1991.

1914-18

Timber and copper.

For God, King and Country

At the top inside both doors
Roll of Honour
(Names)

On centre panel
Greater Love Hath
No Man Than This
(Names)

Triptych with gable top, 48 inches (122cms) at its highest point.

The triangular top is 7 inches deep, the main panel is 31 inches deep, the bottom panel is 10 inches deep (18cms x 79cms x 25cms).

The triptych measures 20 inches across when closed, 40 inches across when opened (51cms x 102cms).

Lettering is in painted Roman capitals.

The IHS symbol is in the gable section.

On centre panel is a large copper cross with inscription on either side above the cross piece, and names on either side below the cross piece.

On a panel at the bottom is a small brass plate stating the source of materials and other details.

1. On brass plate on base of central panel is this information “The Heroic Dead. Made from timber and copper taken from H.M.S. ‘Britannia‘ Naval Cadet Ship at Dartmouth 1869-1905. Broken up at Blyth 1917. Presented to the Town of Blyth by Hughes Bolckow and Co. Ltd.

2. In a booklet presented by Hughes Bolckow to their staff when the firm was taken over in 1961, there is a long piece about the break-up of the “Britannia“. The salvaged material went to making up all kinds of things (see font made from binnacle at Blyth B42.9).  A sentence reads “Folding chairs on offer were designed with wounded soldiers in mind (‘their high back is very restful, but does not interfere with the hat when seated’); tea trolleys were advertised (‘in hospitals and nursing homes they ease the extra work brought by the war’); and there were three patterns of memorial shrine with space for names of up to 150 dead; the names could be added ‘in black at a halfpenny a letter, or in gold at a penny a letter'”. See also Blyth B42.09, B42.34, Cambois C6.05.

Photos: Jack Tait; John Maughan; Tony Harding

Source of quotation
“Greater love hath no man . . .” St. John’s 15 v 13

Jack Tait, Blyth Local History Society;
John Maughan;
Dorothy Hall;
Tony Harding

If you are researching this memorial please contact 2014@newmp.org.uk