Yards Apart: The Remarkable Connection Between a Memorial and Its Maker
Did you know the architect of South Benfleet’s War Memorial rests just a short distance from his creation? Uncover the fascinating story of Sir Charles Nicholson, his lifelong link to our community, and the remarkable history behind this local landmark.
DID YOU KNOW? The man who designed South Benfleet’s War Memorial is buried just yards away from it?
The memorial on Essex Way was designed in 1919 by architect Sir Charles Nicholson and carved by Southend stonemason Percy Delf Smith. Paid for by local people through public subscription, it was unveiled on 30 May 1920. Nicholson had actually been known as Sir Charles since 1903, when he inherited his father’s title and became the 2nd Baronet of Luddenham.
Today there are 37 names of men lost during the First World War on the memorial. Research into those remembered shows just how young they were, with a median age of only 24. They included soldiers, sailors, airmen and a merchant seaman, as well as two sets of brothers, a sobering reminder of just how deeply the war affected the community.
Nicholson himself had a long association with Benfleet and worked on St Mary’s Church from around 1890 until the end of his life, designing many of its internal fixtures and fittings. When he died in 1949, he was buried in St Mary’s churchyard, meaning that today Sir Charles Nicholson rests just a short distance from the memorial he designed more than a century ago.
And there’s one final fascinating detail. Nicholson’s own tombstone is now Grade II listed, just like the war memorial itself. He actually designed the tombstone in 1927 for his first wife, Evelyn, and when he died 22 years later he was buried there too.
A remarkable little piece of Benfleet history which many of us pass regularly without ever knowing the story behind it.
