Monument Gallon etc. 1914-18 Cemetery

Garden House Cemetery, Market Lane, Swalwell.

1914-18

Unveiled 23rd October 1921 by Rev. J.W.D. McIntosh, Vicar of Dunston;
presided by Rev. W.F. Ridley of Dunston.

Freestone

Cllr. and Mrs. M.E. Gallon of Victoria House, Dunston.

Panels painted by John Taylor of Dunston;
Sculptor Mr. H.S. Turner of Gateshead.

John Gosling
died January 7th 1919
aged 90 years
and his beloved wife
Elizabeth Gosling
?February 9th 1919
aged 90 years
and their grandsons
Pte. John Surtees
killed in action in France
died ….. aged 22 years
?Sgt ? Cowans
killed (at his po)st of duty
. . . France
Oct. ??? aged 24 years
Pte John K. Gallon
died of wounds received at his post
of duty in Palestine
Nov. 3rd aged 22 years.
—————————————————–
other three sides
The names of 84 Dunston men who fell in the war)

Monument of large pedestal surmounted by a short fluted column topped by a sculptured urn.

On three sides of the pedestal are painted scenes depicting: “The First Parting”, “Night Raid from the Trenches” and “The Awakening from Death to Life”.

The dedication is carried on the fourth side.

Below the paintings are lists of names.

Paintings and lists are set behind glass held on copper frames.

1. The following description was given in the Consett Guardian:
“The monument is unique both in motive and design. It is of freestone with a four sided shaft set upon a base of moulded steps and crowned with a moulded cornice, on the top of which is a sculptured urn of fire, symbolic of that spirit of burning unquenchable patriotism which saved us in the recent years of peril.

On the front are inscribed the names of the family including two relatives who fell in the war Sgt John Cowans and Private John Surtees.

The other three sides are fitted with painted panels representing “The first parting“, “Night raid from the trenches“, and “The awakening from death to life.” The paintings are the characteristic work of Mr John Taylor, of Dunston. They have been conceived and executed with dignity and restraint. The pictures are under plate glass, fitly framed in copper bevel slips let into the recessed stone and hermetically sealed.

Beneath them are inscribed on bronze the names of 84 Dunston men who fell in the war.

A striking passage from the oration of Pericles on the Athenian dead as recorded by Thucydides quoted over the names “The whole earth is the tomb of heroic men and their story is not graven only on storm over their dead; but abides everywhere without visible symbol, woven into the stuff of other men’s lives.”

The monument is a very handsome and striking expression of an idea which combines the labour of the craftsman with the aesthetic and the imaginative and presents a concrete symbol honourable alike to the originator and to those whose names are inscribed thereon.

It is something of an innovation into God’s acre that may call down criticism but it may be only the beginning of new thoughts on the beautifying of the graves of our loved ones. In this beautiful little garden cemetery the order of sweet thought is as exalting as the smell of the Flowers. Mr H. S. Turner of Gateshead was the sculptor.”

2. The artist who painted the pictures, John Taylor (1875-1940) was born in Dunston, the son of blacksmith Thomas Taylor. He was employed at Dunston Engine Works until it closed in the late 1920s, painting in his spare time. He enrolled at the Gateshead School of Art, the Newcastle Sketching Club and Bewick Club. He contributed cartoons to local publications and showed his work at northern exhibitions and at the Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle. The closure of the Dunston Engine Works forced the family to move to London. He became secretary to Wheeler Dryden, who had joined the film industry. He continued to produce book illustrations, Christmas cards and postcards. He worked at a commercial studio before moving to Luton, Bedfordshire in 1938. His best known work is a watercolour of Newcastle’s Grey Street and Theatre Royal. (Extracts from “The Artists of Northumbria” with permission of Art Dictionaries Ltd).

3. See Private John William Gallon Every Name a Story entry.

4. This Memorial is in grave danger of being worn and unreadable, the names are fading, the paintings are water damaged due to the seals being loose, the stone is weathered very badly.

5. The Council (Gateshead) are aware and are taking steps to refurbish and renovate this Memorial. 2016.

Photos: James Pasby; Ann Graham

Blaydon Courier
29/10/1921 reports unveiling.

Consett Guardian
04/11/1921 reports unveiling.

Illustrated Chronicle
24/10/1921 reports unveiling

Newcastle Daily Chronicle
24/10/1921 reports unveiling.

The Artists of Northumbria Marshall Hall enlarged edition published 2005 by Art Dictionaries Ltd., Bristol. ISBN 0 9532609 9 2

Source of quotation Oration of Pericles of the Athenian Dead”, Thucydides

James Pasby;
Dorothy Hall;
Ann Graham;
Nan Smith

If you are researching this memorial please contact 2014@newmp.org.uk