The Ockleston Memorial, Cheadle Green History & Heritage Significance July 2014 The Ockleston Memorial, Cheadle Green A report on the history & significance of the memorial prepared for CHEADLE CIVIC SOCIETY by The Architectural History Practice Ltd July 2014 CONTENTS Executive summary 1.0 Introduction 1.1. Background to the report 1.2. Purpose of the report 1.3 Acknowledgements 1.4 Copyright 2.0 History, Design & Context 2.1 Background: Victorian Memorials 2.2. The Ockleston Memorial 2.3 Designer, Alfred Darbyshire 2.4 Form and design 2.5 Later alterations 2.6 Cheadle Green: outline history and development 2.7 The Memorial and Cheadle Green – recent history & new proposals 3.0. Significance of The Ockleston Memorial 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Summary of significance 3.3 Setting 4.0. Conclusion Sources Appendix 1: Listed Building Description Ockleston Memorial, Heritage Statement, July 2014 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Robert Ockleston was a popular doctor in Cheadle; after he died in 1888 a subscription was raised to fund a water fountain to his memory, erected in Cheadle in 1889. The memorial was designed in gothic revival style by the Manchester architect Alfred Darbyshire, using Aberdeen granite, Mansfield limestone and Titancrete. The fountain was a multi-purpose structure that provided water for horses in troughs around the base, water fountains for local people and a lamp. It occupied a prominent position at the junction of Manchester Road and Stockport Road next to Cheadle Green until it was relocated in 1967 to a site to the east, on the edge of a new residential estate. Some changes were made to the fountain at unknown dates between 1889 and the early 20th century; a comparison of historic images shows that additional lamps were added, and most of the water fountains were removed. In its current location the memorial’s water troughs are filled with compost and used for bedding plants, and the structure’s condition is deteriorating. The Ockleston Memorial is of high significance for its aesthetic, historical and communal value, but its current setting, condition and ex situ position detracts from its significance. It is a grade II listed structure and within Cheadle Conservation Area. It has the potential to once again be a landmark feature within the conservation area. A landscape scheme has been designed by Barnes Walker to reinstate it as close as possible to its original location. The dismantling and re-erection will be carried out with advice from Alan Gardner, as part of a project funded by Cheadle Civic Society. Ockleston Memorial, Heritage Statement, July 2014 2 1.0. INTRODUCTION 1.1. Background to the Report This report was commissioned from The Architectural History Practice Ltd (AHP) in May 2014 by Cheadle Civic Society. The report contributes to a wider project to enhance Cheadle Green with new landscaping that takes account of its historic form and appearance. This report will be used to inform and support an application for listed building (LBC), to relocate the memorial to a site close to its original location. 1.2 Purpose of the Report The report is intended to provide: • An analysis of the history of the Ockleston Memorial and its historic setting, illustrated with historic images; • An assessment of the significance of the Ockleston Memorial; 1.3 Acknowledgements This report has been written by Marion Barter, BA MA, Director of AHP. AHP is grateful to Edward Cardwell at Barnes Walker for sharing historic photographs and maps, and to Alan Jabez of Cheadle Civic Society who also provided copies of historic images. Pat Seddon, local historian kindly provided copies of photographs of the unveiling ceremony in 1889. 1.4 Copyright This report is the copyright of AHP Ltd and is for the sole use of the organisation to whom it is addressed. This document may not be used or referred to in whole or in part by anyone else without the express agreement of AHP. AHP does not accept liability for any loss or damage arising from any unauthorised use of this report. © AHP Ltd (2014). Ockleston Memorial, Heritage Statement, July 2014 3 2.0: HISTORY, DESIGN AND CONTEXT 2.1 Victorian memorials The trend to provide a memorial to a public figure after their death was well- established in Victorian England. The death of Albert, Prince Consort in 1861 prompted a national outpouring of grief in whose memory ‘statues and monuments were set up all over the country’ (Benedict p95). The memorial to Prince Albert in Manchester was designed by Thomas Worthington, and unveiled in 1867, using a striking gothic design for the canopy echoing the Scott Monument in Glasgow (unveiled in 1846). Memorials to lesser citizens followed, many also designed in the gothic revival style. Fig.1: Victorian water fountain in Enfield, designer and date unknown (Enfield Civic Society) Water fountains were a popular Victorian feature, often provided in public parks and town centres, and sometimes funded as a memorial to a local figure or to mark a royal jubilee. They also performed a public health function, at a time when a clean domestic water supply was not universal. Designs varied greatly; most simply provided a bowl and water fountain, sometimes under a decorative canopy. They were either free-standing or built into a wall or building. Larger structures sometimes incorporated a water trough for horses, but lamps seem to have been a Ockleston Memorial, Heritage Statement, July 2014 4 rarer addition. A web search identified a fountain comparable to the Ocklestone Memorial in Enfield, but none similar are known locally. 2.2. The Ockleston Memorial Terry Wyke records that ‘Robert Ockleston came to live in the village of Cheadle in the 1830s, as an assistant to the local doctor. He eventually established his own practice and became known for his kindness and ‘his innocent looking little white pills…He enjoyed the rural life, being a passionate horseman. Ockleston took an active interest in the public affairs of the village’ (Wyke p339). Cheadle Civic Society record on their website that Ocklestone opened his first surgery in 1825 on the High Street; his history has not been researched in detail for this report. Fig.2: Two views of the unveiling ceremony in 1889 (courtesy of Pat Seddon) Ockleston died in February 1888, and soon afterwards it was decided that a memorial in the form of a water fountain should be erected to honour his life and work, as reported in the Stockport Advertiser on 9 March 1888 (Wyke p339). The memorial was unveiled at a well-attended public ceremony in April 1889 by Lord of the Manor, James Watts of Cheadle Hall; he formally handed it over to the Local Board which was responsible for maintenance. Ockleston Memorial, Heritage Statement, July 2014 5 2.2 Alfred Darbyshire, the designer The memorial was commissioned from the Manchester architect Alfred Darbyshire (1839-1908). Darbyshire had been a pupil of Richard Lane, who designed restrained buildings in Greek revival style, such as Chorlton-on-Mdelock Town Hall, but once established on his own, Darbyshire designed in gothic revival style and various other styles, and later specialised in theatre design. The Palace Theatre on Oxford Street was designed by him in 1891, although re-fronted later, along with the Comedy Theatre (later The Gaiety) on Peter Street (demolished). He took a particular interest in fire-proofing theatres and the use of fire-proof safety curtains; the theatre he designed in Exeter used a fire-proof product called Titancrete (see http://www.arthurlloyd.co.uk/ExeterTheatres.htm). Darbyshire took a scholarly approach to architectural detailing and like many architects of his generation had visited the continent to see examples of architecture from all periods; he made his first continental tour in 1864. For the 1887 Jubilee Exhibition held in Old Trafford, Darbyshire and his partner Frederick Bennett Smith designed a street lined with full-size replicas of old buildings from Salford and Manchester, and Darbyshire wrote the guide book. 2.3 Design and form of the memorial A public water fountain was chosen as a suitable memorial, incorporating a water fountain, a water trough for horses and originally also a street lamp, all designed in fashionable gothic revival style. This combination of utility and aesthetics typified the Victorian approach to public memorials. The memorial was designed as a composite of different gothic features, ingeniously assembled to make an attractive, functional landmark. The octagonal plinth carries an octagonal basin forming the horse trough, with a moulded rim of polished Aberdeen granite. Cut into the octagonal plinth are four low-level recesses with water troughs; these were probably for small animals such as dogs to drink from. Four small gabled stone canopies arranged around the Ockleston Memorial, Heritage Statement, July 2014 6 basin contained the water fountains, each with a small shaped polished granite basin or cup. From the centre of the octagonal basin rises a polished granite cylindrical column on a moulded limestone base with four gothic style bosses carved with ferns and foliage (two different designs) and a capital carved with heraldry. An octagonal stone band above the heraldry is incised with gothic script: ‘ROBERT OCKLESTON DIED 1888, MEMORIAL ERECTED 1889’. Fig.3: detail from photograph of unveiling in 1889 (courtesy Pat Seddon) The flat top of the carved capital supported a miniature gothic canopy (known as a ciborium), resembling the canopy over the Albert Memorial in Manchester, probably made of metal and topped with a weather vane. Within the canopy hung a single decorative lamp. Wyke notes that the lamp design was based on a lamp designed by Darbyshire for the 1887 Jubilee Exhibition held in Old Trafford (Wyke p339).