The main Prescot civic memorial now stands behind the parish church, were it was moved to as part of the urban redevelopment in the 1960’s and 1970’s. It had originally stood in Church Street, where it had been unveiled on 9th September 1916.
On 28th July 1915, the Canon Mitchell reported in the Parish Magazine, “On Tuesday evening 20th July, the Chairman of the Urban District Council, Mr. W. J. Lucas, gave the Members of the Council a most pleasing surprise. He said that he had called the special meeting to ask permission to erect, at his own charge, a Monument to commemorate the brave and true men of Prescot who had fallen, and those who might yet fall, in the present war. The monument would be constructed of the best Aberdeen granite, with massive pilasters and polished columns. It would be fixed on a granite pedestal 14 feet high and on this would be placed the full sized figure of a soldier in uniform. The monument would be six feet square at the base and its total height would be 20 and a half feet.
The council unanimously and gratefully accepted the offer and agreed with Mr. Lucas that the best site would be about thecentre of the wide road space where West Street runs into Church Street.”
The article below appeared in the Parish Magazine shortly before the unveiling of the memorial.
The memorial now records 151 names from the First World War and a further 73 from the Second World War.
Showing a statue of a serviceman, representing the South Lancashire Regiment, standing upon a tall column, the memorial has plates around each side. One of these contains the key inscription.
This Monument
Was Presented To The Town By
Councillor Wm. J Lucas J.P.
During His Term Of Office As Chairman
Of The Council 1915-1917
In Memory
Of Prescot Men Who Sacrificed Their
Lives Fighting For Their Country During
The Great European War of 1914 – 1919
Unveiled By Lieut. Col. Sir Henry Webb, Bart, M.P.
For The Earl Of Derby 9th September 1916
Also In Memory Of Those Who Fell In The Second World War 1939-1945
Dedicated Nov. 10th 1946
A picture of Councillor Lucas taken from the Prescot Reporter of 14th September 1917
On 11th September 1916, under the heading “War Memorial at Prescot”, the Manchester Guardian reported the unveiling as below:
“A memorial to soldiers who fall in the war was unveiled at Prescot, near Liverpool, on Saturday. Lord Derby had intended to perform the ceremony, but he telegraphed that the meeting of an important committee at the War Office required him, in the absence of the Secretary of State for War,to remain in London. To supplement the telegram he despatched his private secretary with a letter, which arrived in time to be read to the large throng which assembled in the square formed by the junction of High Street and West Street, where the monument stands.
The letter, after repeating the explanation in the telegram, said: ‘Prescot has done splendidly in the way of recruiting, and I wish that I had been able to be present to pay a tribute to the gallantry of those who have fought our battles in all parts of the world. We who are now living will never forget their services and their sacrifices, but it is well that you, through the generosity of Mr. Lucas, should put up a memorial that those who come after may for all time recognise how splendidly Lancashire has done, and also show the future inhabitants of Prescot and the district that our neighbourhood was not behind the rest of Lancashire in eagerness to do its duty.’
The unveiling, which was done by Colonel Webb, revealed a granite figure of a soldier of the South Lancashire Regiment. The memorial was formally presented to the town by Mr. W. J. Lucas, the chairman of the Urban District Council, who has borne the cost of its erection. It was stated by Mr. G. C. Hemingway, the vice chairman of the council, that although Prescot was a town when Liverpool was a village, it had not hitherto had a public memorial of any kind.
Colonel Webb afterwards presented the Distinguished Conduct Medal to Company Sergeant Major Wray.”
The Unveiling of the Civic War Memorial, September 9th, 1916
