Within the next few days, stonemason Matthias Garn and his team will be on site to complete restoration works to the Acomb War Memorial. The carved book of remembrance has been off site for some time, to enable the letters making up the names of the remembered to be marked out where the lead and stonework had worn. This was a time consuming process and the project is now to move to its final stages, on site.
Works on site over the coming days will include non-invasive works to improve the appearance of the stonework, installation of indents and replacement of missing lead lettering. The project to improve the appearance of the Acomb War Memorial is scheduled to be completed on or before 4 November 2018, weather permitting, in time for the centenary of the 1918 Armistice.
The book of remembrance includes the names of 79 servicemen killed during the First World War, 59 who died during the Second World War, and there is also a plaque in honour of the local serviceman who died during the Falklands War.
The project is being led by York Civic Trust’s Nick Beilby and two-thirds of the £18,000 cost has been met from the Trust’s own City Enhancement Fund, which is made up of public donations. Efforts to obtain financial support from other bodies proved largely unsuccessful. A donation of £6,000 has been graciously offered by City of York Council’s ‘Public Realm’ department and the York Civic Trust thanks Dave Meigh (Operations Manager) for his department’s generous contribution to the cost of the restoration.
Interest in the restoration of the Grade II Listed Memorial started last year when the Trust was approached to consider managing a project. The proposal was included in a public voting exercise in the summer of 2018 in The Press . The campaign attracted the attention of many who had strong connections to those remembered on the Memorial, including Estra Eastwood, who wrote to The Press.
The annual Remembrance Sunday service on Sunday 11 November 2018 will this year be held in Acomb with the Memorial rightly restored in honour of those who have fallen. A suitable and fitting restoration in time for the centenary of the 1918 Armistice.