Centenary commemoration for war memorial gates

Civic leaders, including local Liberal Democrat Councillors, marked one hundred years since Rugby's war memorial gates were dedicated on Saturday 12 March 2022.

Councillors Bill Lewis, Neil Sandison, Jerry Roodhouse and Sue Roodhouse attended a short ceremony at the gates in Whitehall Recreation Ground, one hundred years to the day since they were dedicated.

Rugby's war memorial takes the form of a pair of wrought iron gates with gold decoration, supported by two Portland stone piers with ornamental mountings.

The names of the men of Rugby who fell in the major wars of the twentieth century are inscribed on the piers.

The gates were unveiled on Sunday 12 March 1922 by Field Marshal Earl French of Ypres, assisted by Mr and Mrs Hardman, who had lost three sons in the war. The gates were then dedicated by the Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich, Dr A A David, a former Headmaster of Rugby School. Mr Tom Reynolds, a local builder who had also lost three sons in the war, formally opened the gates with a large key presented by Foster and Dicksee, a local firm of building contractors. He was allowed to keep this key as a souvenir.

After Mr Reynolds had walked through the gates, those assembled sang "O God our help in ages past", and the ceremony concluded with the laying of wreaths.

A hundred years on, Mr Reynolds' granddaughter, Mrs Barbara Coleman, will be in attendance for the re-dedication ceremony.

The centenary ceremony carried an extra poignance as a major European conflict once again takes place. The conflict in Ukraine was marked during the ceremony with the laying of a wreath in Ukraine's national colours.