Clevedon's War Memorial (1923)

On Saturday, the 17th March 1923 flags and bunting adorned many of the houses in Old Church Road, Queens Road, Sunnyside, Albert Road, Six Ways, Hill Road, Wellington Terrace and on the approaches to Lady Baye. Householders had been asked to adorn a procession which would mark the 'opening' of Clevedon's War Memorial. The procession was quite something - headed by the Commander-in-Chief of the Southern Command, Lieutenant-General Sir Harold Walker K.C.B., K.C.M.G., D.S.O., those present included representatives from the British Legion and other public bodies as well as many Great War veterans - some of whom had served in Italy in 1917 & 1918 under General Walker where he had commanded 48th Division during the Italian Campaign. The procession was headed up by the Clevedon Silver Band and at the assembly point in The Triangle the crowd was kept in check by a guard of honour from the Territorial Army. Many of the marchers wore medals and some had dusted off their uniforms for the occasion.

General Walker at Lady Baye

Whilst Clevedon has many fine First World War memorials in various places of worship and their grounds, unlike many other towns and villages, there is no single community-wide memorial carrying the names of all who fell. In recent times two community memorials have been installed - one in the Triangle marking those men who left the town by train during both World Wars and another on the site of the old British School on Chapel Hill commemorating ex-pupils who were killed 1914-18. The town also has a fine 'peace' memorial commemorating those who were killed during the Anglo-Boer War (1898-1900), to which a generalised reference to the First and Second World Wars was subsequently added. But there is no single focus of remembrance as is the case elsewhere.

This omission is misleading, because a war memorial - in two parts - of a very practical nature was built as a 'tribute to the gallant men who helped to save England in her hour of need'. The memorial took a very impactful form - two cottages at Lady Baye built for the 'accommodation of local sailors and soldiers disabled in the Great War'. The two cottages were the end-point for the aforementioned procession and with typical military precision General Walker would open the door of the first cottage at exactly 14:46! With funding from the proceeds of sale from Oaklands (a Clevedon beachfront property used as a convalescence hospital throughout the war years), the two bungalows, 'Vimy Ridge' and 'Jellalabad', were destined to be home to disadvantaged veterans and their families for almost a century. A public appeal for money would make up the cost of construction and, if sufficient, finance two further cottages (the latter did not transpire).

The War Memorial Cottages, Clevedon

The spirit of what was intended was captured in an article published in the Clevedon Mercury on the 24th March 1923. 

'Over four years have passed since the war ended, and while the country is net yet fit for heroes to live in,'' Clevedon at least has made a not unworthy attempt to make it so. In the years to come, some of the men who fought and suffered for their country will have reason feel that, so far as we could do so, we have made an attempt to make good their country's promise. The men sacrificed health, strength and limbs for us, and now the time has come to meet sacrifice with sacrifice. 'We do not call our gifts by that great name, for, compared with what they did for us, our effort counts but little.

The fine generosity of Clevedon residents makes our lovely little town a happy hunting ground for every charitable Society under the sun. Large sums of money are sent out of the town every year for such Societies, but this effort is made on behalf of our own Town and District, money given will remain in the Town, in the Memorial erected, and it will enable the men who in fine spirit of patriotism offered themselves in the hour of their Country's peril to spend the remainder of their lives in comparative comfort, and in the assurance that they will never want for a house to shelter them.'

Jelalabad Cottage - Now Derelict

The cottages were owned and managed by the Clevedon Trust for Disabled Sailors and Soldiers (CTDSS) from 1923 until 1964 at which point the charity was reconstituted as Clevedon Memorial Homes under the auspices of the Royal British Legion (RBL). Matters had come to a head at an RBL Committee meeting on the 16th April 1964 when it became apparent that one of the cottages had been unoccupied for 18 months. The eligibility criteria for tenancy were extended to included 'poor and aged' persons at that point. A minute from a CTDSS Committee meeting reveals that both properties were occupied by August of that year with Jellalabad commanding a rental of 30/- per week and Vimy Ridge 50/- per week. Whilst it would be inappropriate to refer to individual tenants, it is clear from RBL records that at least one of the cottages was occupied in 2009 when a rent review fell due.

In 2010 the Trustees of Clevedon Memorial Homes (CMH), working with the local RBL Branch, to which the charity was linked, made the pragmatic decision to transfer the ownership of the cottages (and therefore responsibility) to the Haig Housing Trust, a major national charity linked to the Royal British Legion, who own and run over 1500 houses for veterans over 50 locations. It is probable that the CMH Committee felt that with escalating repair costs and an obligation to keep rents artificially low, it would be best to allow a scaled-up national player to pick up responsibility. At the Clevedon Branch of the RBL AGM on the 16th November 2011 the relief of the erstwhile Trustees was palpable - minutes record 'the cottages have been taken over at last so that responsibility for running them has been lifted from the Branch Trustees' (my italics).

 

Vimy Ridge - Now Derelict

In 2016 the two cottages and the prime real estate they are sited on, were advertised for sale by the Haig Housing Trust, a development that caused a murmur of concern at a Clevedon Town Council meeting on the 24th February when Councillor David Shopland sought information about the terms of the original transfer and the nature of any restrictive covenants. From then on the facts are a little bit opaque but it seems that the plot and the two derelict cottages were sold for £940k in 2017.  Earlier this year the plot changed hands again and was bought at auction by a Bristol based property developer for £1.8m, complete with planning consent to demolish the bungalows and build two 'executive' homes, so presumably if there were any restrictive covenants then they had been lifted on the HM Land Registry record.

So what of the original intent as articulated in 1923? Well, the Haig Housing Trust do a wonderful job in housing veterans and their families and they do own and manage a property in Clevedon (purchased, I am told, from the proceeds of the sale of the Memorial Cottages). As for the proceeds from the first sale, I think it is safe to assume that they were put to good use in the furtherance of the Trust's charitable aims. My inclination is therefore, to conclude that the story has a satisfactory ending. 

However .... if anyone has further information about Clevedon's War Memorial cottages then please get in touch via the contact form on my home page.

With thanks to Jane Lilly, whose Uncle Derek had conveniently logged relevant newspaper articles. And to Mike Allison from Clevedon Royal British Legion who allowed me to interrogate the Branch archive.