engineering

Widnes War Memorial

Widnes War Memorial is a engineering topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Widnes War Memorial rather than just read about it. In short: Widnes War Memorial stands in Victoria Park, Widnes, Cheshire, England. It commemorates the serving men who lost their lives in the two world wars.

Key takeaways

Widnes War Memorial belongs to engineering; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Widnes War Memorial to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Widnes War Memorial from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Widnes War Memorial stands in Victoria Park, Widnes, Cheshire, England. It commemorates the serving men who lost their lives in the two world wars. The memorial consists of an obelisk in Portland stone on a plinth of York stone. It was unveiled in 1921, and more names were added in 1950. The monument is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building.

History Widnes Borough Council commissioned a memorial in 1920 to commemorate the citizens of the town who fell in the First World War. Following a competition the design of Harold E. Davies was selected, and Herbert Tyson Smith was appointed as the sculptor. The building contractors were Messrs. Stewart Jones of Liverpool. The foundation stone was laid on 28 August 1920, and the memorial was unveiled on 28 September 1921. This ceremony included a procession from the Town Hall led by the mayor and the 17th Earl of Derby. The memorial was paid for by public subscription which raised £7,830, against a target of £10,000. However the memorial cost only £6,000, and the remainder was used as a social fund towards the poor of the town. An inscription and plaques were added to commemorate those lost in the Second World War, and these were unveiled in April 1950. In February 2015 Engraved stones were unveiled to honour 62 "forgotten" men who died in World War One, but were not listed on a Cheshire town's cenotaph. The new memorial in Victoria Park, Widnes, follows researcher Michael McNicholas spotting the omissions as he worked on a book about the war.

Description The memorial consists of an obelisk in Portland stone standing on a stepped plinth in York stone. The obelisk is about 12.8 metres (42 ft) high on a plinth about 2.1 metres (7 ft) in height. Around the plinth are 30 bronze tablets inscribed with the names of the 818 men who died in the First World War. On the base of the obelisk is the coat of arms of Widnes. At the top of the obelisk is a flaming urn to symbolise immortality. The corners of the plinth are angled and contain carved laurel wreathes. Higher in the plinth are eight bronze tablets with the names of those lost in the Second World War. Towards the top of the obelisk on all four faces are crosses carved in relief. Below the crosses on the north and south sides are palm branches, and below those on the east and west sides are laurel wreathes. In a panel on the front (south) side of the plinth is an inscription reading as follows.

ERECTED BY THE CITIZENS OF THE BOROUGH OF WIDNES IN COMMEMORATION OF THE MEN OF THIS PLACE WHO MADE THE SUPREME SACRIFICE IN THE GREAT WAR OF 1914 – 1919 THIS FOUNDATION STONE WAS LAID 28TH AUGUST 1920 BY ALDERMAN EDWIN WOOD – MAYOR On the same face, above the smaller plaques, is an inscription reading as follows.

IN MEMORY OF THE MEN OF WIDNES WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES 1939 – 1945 UNVEILED BY ALDERMAN T SWALE MAYOR 12TH APRIL 1950 On the front of the base of the obelisk is an inscription reading:

THIS MEMORIAL WAS UNVEILED SEPTEMBER 28TH 1921 BY THE RIGHT HON THE EARL OF DERBY KG On the left (west) side the inscription reads:

TO OUR GLORIOUS DEAD 1914 – 1919 1939 – 1945 On the right side the inscription is:

THE BLOOD OF HEROES IS THE SEED OF FREEDOM And at the back is inscribed:

THEIR NAME LIVETH FOR EVERMORE

Appraisal The monument was designated as a Grade II listed building on 21 August 2007. Grade II is the lowest of the three grades of listing and is applied to "buildings of national importance and special interest". In the citation for listing it is described as being "intricately carved and highly imposing", it incorporates "symbolic imagery" and "richly detailed carvings", making it a "striking and prominent architectural feature". Pollard and Pevsner in the Buildings of England series describe it as being "impressive and dignified".

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Widnes War Memorial

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Widnes War Memorial claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In engineering, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Widnes War Memorial before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Widnes War Memorial ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Widnes War Memorial

In research: Widnes War Memorial appears in engineering research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Widnes War Memorial in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Widnes War Memorial is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Buildings and structures completed in 1921, Buildings and structures in Widnes, Grade II listed buildings in Cheshire, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Widnes War Memorial outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Widnes War Memorial in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Widnes War Memorial means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Widnes War Memorial out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Widnes War Memorial in simple terms?

Widnes War Memorial stands in Victoria Park, Widnes, Cheshire, England. It commemorates the serving men who lost their lives in the two world wars.

Why does Widnes War Memorial matter?

Because it connects several engineering ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Widnes War Memorial?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Widnes War Memorial.