The Gasworks War memorial on the Peninsula

 

The memorial to the dead in the Great War from the East Greenwich Gas Works Dr Mary Mills Greenwich Society members will no doubt welcome the news that a number of buildings and structures throughout Greenwich are being considered for local and indeed national listing. I had considered writing some details about some of them in our area – but that can wait. 

One structure which has been nationally listed is on the Peninsula - the memorial to the dead in the Great War from the East Greenwich Gas Works. A ceremony to commemorate the dead, and this listing, was held by Historic England along with Christ Church and Saint Mary Magdalen School on 6th of November. Young people from the school spoke about the relevance of the memorial to them and Rev. Margaret Cave addressed us. 

There is quite a history to the memorial and how it came to be situated in John Harrison way. The Gas Works was of course heavily involved in all sorts of ways in the Great War. I have a copy of a very detailed booklet which was produced by the Company in 1920 which describes it. This covers all sorts of subjects including the conversion of much of their chemical manufacturing capacity to the production of weapons. 

There is also a dramatic and tragic story to be told about the company’s fleet of collier ships many of which were torpedoed and their crews drowned as they brought coal to the Gas Works from the Durham coal field. Some months ago I wrote an article for the Greenwich Weekender about the role of women who undertook the most strenuous work in the production of coal gas while the men were away at war. 

We must remember that the South Metropolitan Gas Company which owned the East Greenwich Gas Works was a very large undertaking with several other large works. This memorial in East Greenwich is only one of several. There is, for instance, a window in Southwark Cathedral which the company donated as a memorial to gas worker servicemen. 

I should also mention that there were some civilian awards during the war – one of these was an OBE to Frederick Innis who saved the gas supply to South London when East Greenwich No 2 gas holder was ruptured by the Silvertown explosion in 1917. 

The memorial which now stands in John Harrison way was originally installed in 1926 at a ceremony which included the Mayor of Greenwich accompanied by the South Metropolitan Gas Works choir and its military band. It was installed in a little garden near the entrance to the Gas Works in Grenfell Street - about half way down what is now Millennium Way. 

When the gas works closed only one employee was left to look after the site - Key Murch, who some of you may remember. She worked in one of the Portacabins in Millennium Way and when the site was passed English Partnerships she became their site manager. She always said she wanted to save something from the Gas Works and she managed to salvage the war memorial and it was moved to John Harrison Way when the park was laid out it. Sadly Kaye died before the Millennium Exhibition opened and so she never saw the memorial in its current setting. I suppose I am very glad for her sake that there is now such a lot of interest in it – at the time, when the site was cleared for the Dome and the exhibition - any interest in the gas works or any past industry on the site, was considered a heresy and Kay had a real struggle to get the memorial saved – and we should all be so glad that she did it.

 The memorial has now been listed by Historic England working with the school. The students, from year 9, carried out a survey of the memorial using learning resources developed by Historic England and the War Memorial's Trust and a Great War trail of Charlton Cemetery was developed for them to follow. They spent time learning about the Great War and its the effect on people who lived locally and also researched the memorial online. Their photos and notes were part of the basis for listing the memorial. 

I also thought I should mention Rob Powell’s new book about the Metropolitan Borough of Greenwich’s Maze Hill War Memorial which lists the names of the fallen to whom it was dedicated. I used to talk to one of the Town Hall staff, Dave, who was researching the memorial and I remember being intrigued by his story that the names of the fallen were not inscribed on the memorial but locked up inside it on a scroll. He has also had discovered that it was very unclear who owned the memorial; if it was on land owned by Greenwich Park or by the Council. I hope this is all been sorted out now and please buy Rob's new book – co-sponsored by the Greenwich Society - which has all the names along with some wonderful photographs including of course one of the Gas Works memorial. More info at www.greenwich.co.uk/rollofhonour/