War Memorial - King Edward Square, Sutton Coldfield - Royal Sutton Place and Sutton Coldfield Town Hall
The war memorial statue in King Edward Square, Sutton Coldfield. It is in front of Sutton Coldfield Town Hall and the former Royal Hotel (now an apartment building as Royal Sutton Place). The war memorial was Grade II listed from 2015. A civic war memorial, designed by Francis Doyle-Jones and unveiled in November 1922. MATERIALS & PLAN: Dalbeattie granite and sandstone plinth with a bronze statue and plaques. PLAN: the plinth is square on plan and the statue shows a figure of a soldier to full height. DESCRIPTION: the memorial faces east and takes the form of a bronze, full-length statue of a soldier in battle dress, standing on a granite plinth which has bronze plaques attached to its front and flanks. The platform has two steps formed of large slabs of granite. Above this the plinth is square in section with a wider portion to its base which has alternating projecting and recessed quoins to the corners. At the centre of each front are large bronze plaques with lettering in relief. To the upper part of the east face of the plinth the plaque reads; ‘ERECTED TO THE / GLORIOUS MEMORY / OF THE MEN OF / SUTTON / COLDFIELD / WHO GAVE / THEIR LIVES IN / THE GREAT WAR / 1914 - 1919 / THEY DIED THAT WE MIGHT LIVE’. To the top of this plaque are two coloured enamel armorials on crossed shields. On a separate plaque, below this is inscribed ‘ALSO TO THOSE WHO / FELL IN THE WORLD WAR / 1939 – 1945’ and a third plaque to the base of the plinth gives the names of the fallen in the Second World War. To the top of the plinth on the east side is a carved oval laurel wreath with crossed torches, in relief. The flanks and rear have similar bronze plaques which record the fallen from the First World War. The bronze statue shows a soldier, wearing great coat and helmet with his gas mask holder at the front, water bottle to the side and back pack. His crossed hands lean on his rifle. Surrounding the monument, and enclosing flower beds, is a square, walled enclosure of squared rubble sandstone with coping, which appears to be a later addition. Details about the Town Hall: The building consists of an 1865 structure and an 1906 extension. In 1865 the Royal Hotel was built on a small eminence above the newly opened railway station to serve the needs of visitors to the town. Throughout its short life, the hotel was beset with financial difficulties and closed in 1895. A Lt. Col Wilkinson purchased the hotel in 1896 and converted it for use as a sanatorium, but in December 1901, it was sold for £9,000 to the Sutton Corporation to serve as Council Offices. The old Town Hall, in Mill Street, was sold in February 1903 and the Corporation began an ambitious extension to the building to provide a purpose built Town Hall comprising Council Chambers, Assembly Rooms and a Fire Station. The tower, which rises from one of the main entrances, has a clock face on all four sides. When first opened, the clock tower also served as a hose tower and a ventilation shaft for the fire headquarters. The extension was completed at a cost of £10,000 and opened as Sutton Coldfield Town Hall on 19 September 1906 by the Mayor, Councillor R. H. Sadler, though the fire headquarters had been opened a few months earlier. The opening event was an evening concert by the Sutton Coldfield Choral Society. The following night, an amateur dramatic performance of The Duke of Killicrankie was given by A. C. Fraser Wood and Company. All operations were moved from the previous town hall on Mill Street to the new building. The area to the front of the town hall, King Edwards Square, became the main public assembly area and the stocks were displayed to the public in the square (now on display at Blakesley Hall). In 1919, the town hall was used as a theatre for discharged and demobilized men who had fought in World War I. It remained as such up until 1934 having hosted productions such as The School for Scandal, A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Merchant of Venice. The Sutton Coldfield coat of arms above the entrance to the Neighbourhood Office section of the town hall The Fire Station remained in use until it was replaced by a new building on Lichfield Road in 1963; later the old premises became the Bedford Suite. When Sutton Coldfield was absorbed into Birmingham in 1974, the Town Hall became redundant and was required to change its usage. The Sutton Coldfield coat of arms, which was absorbed into the Birmingham Coat of Arms, is still depicted above the entrance.