The Grade 2 listed War Memorial is an important focal point in Tattenhall which reminds every one of the losses suffered during both World Wars. It was erected by Cleggs of Chester and unveiled on 26 June 1922 by Lieutenant General Sir Henry Beauvoir de Lisle KCB KCMG DSO. In normal circumstances on Remembrance Day many villagers process to the War Memorial to lay wreathes and the names of the local men who lost their lives are read out.
In 2005 the Parish Council added 5 names to the bronze plaques 3 of which related to the Great War and 2 to World War II. During research for the book “Tattenhall – A Community United by War” it was discovered that one of the names on the Memorial was incorrect. This was confirmed by a relative who lived in the village at the time. The Parish Council, without hesitation, funded the correction on the bronze plaque, finally removing this long-standing error.
Unfortunately, in 2004 the Memorial suffered from subsidence and £36,000 was needed for the restoration. Following years of flooding on the Millfield, sink holes were noticed in the Autumn of 2020. The cross was found to be leaning due to its foundations being on a peat bog. The area was fenced off for safety reasons by the Parish Council and surveyors have been called in and formal costings are being sought before applying for funding for the repairs. Whichever option is chosen the Memorial will need to be dismantled before rebuilding on its current site or an alternative.
Find out more about the history of our War Memorial on the Tattenhall History website.
2021 Update
The War Memorial has been fenced of safety reasons due to a number of holes developing in the front of the Memorial.
A technical survey has been done of the site which has identified that the Memorial is suffering for subsidence due to the ground conditions.
The Parish Council is currently seeking further technical advice on how to address the problem and it is likely the memorial will need to be dismantled and rebuilt.
We are also investigating funding for the project which is expected to cost in excess of £30,000.
November 2022 Update
On Friday 21st October Mainmark carried out works to the Memorial to fill the void which had formed underneath by injecting a specially formulated resin which it was also hoped would level it.
They provided the below summary:
We were able to successfully lift and rotate the war memorial to almost exact specifications, accurate to 2mm. The structure was out by around 16mm.
We lifted 23mm on the worst side, this caused slight lift on the opposite side of 9mm, giving us a final level of 14mm. The traditional bubble level as you saw was almost perfectly central. This is a great result for structure with unknown foundations. We stabilised all around too.
We expected the amount of resin used to be over what we planned, and we ended up using 50% more material in order to void fill and gain enough stabilisation and ultimately lift the structure to about 99% accuracy.
Following the works, PJ Hellmers Ltd backfilled and levelled the gravel area at the front of the Memorial and removed the metal fencing ready for Remembrance Sunday on the 13th November.
Working Group Meeting Notes:
Working Group Meeting – 27th September 2021
Working Group Meeting -15th October 2021
Working Group Meeting – 11th February 2022
Working Group Meeting – 10th June 2022
Working Group Meeting – 18th July 2022
Working Group Meeting – 8th August 2022