FORMBY WAR MEMORIAL

Three Tuns Lane, Formby, Sefton L37 4AQ

Formby War Memorial is located by the roundabout at the corner of Three Tuns Lane. Listed upon the memorial are the names of 118 Service men who gave their lives in the Great War.

The Memorial

The Memorial is situated on Three Tuns Lane and the corner of School Lane, facing the village.

Charles Joseph Weld Blundell Esq., of Ince Blundell Hall, donated the land that the memorial is situated on to the township of Formby. The memorial cross sits on a square plinth and three-stepped base, and is constructed of silver-grey Cornish granite. The wheel portion of the cross is fine-axed, and interlaced with runic carving, which forms the Cross of St. George in the centre.

The shaft is rustic, with fine-axed margin on four sides, and is surrounded on all of the four sides with a neat mould. Below the mould on three sides are inscribed the names of the fallen, and the inscription is engraved on the front. A concave wall behind the memorial lists the names of the fallen from the Second World War and subsequent confIicts.

Unveiling Ceremony

The Memorial was unveiled on Sunday 12th November, 1922. The procession began at Formby Council offices in Freshfield Road, proceeding via Piercefield Road, Church Road, Old Mill Lane and Halsall Lane, and included police, boy scouts, girl guides, officers, ex-officers, ex-Service men, Guard of Honour, and buglers. The vicar of Formby was accompanied by district clergy and choirs of the churches in the district; also officers of Formby Council, War Memorial Committee members, relatives and the general public.

Formby Brass Band and St. George’s School Band played, and the chairman of the Formby Memorial Committee offered an address. The hymn “Oh God our help in ages past” was given up. Lieutenant-Colonel John Formby DL JP OBE then addressed the assembly and unveiled and dedicated the memorial. Rev. Chas. Wright offered prayers and the hymn “God of our Fathers, known of old” was played. “The Lord’s Prayer” followed and also the hymn “For all the saints who from their labours rest”. Rev. Father John Gardener gave the Blessing Ceremony, which started with a processional hymn. The cross and the names inscribed were then blessed, and prayers were offered for the fallen soldiers.

Chopin’s “Funeral March” was rendered; the buglers sounded “The Last Post”, and then two minutes silence was observed, followed by “Reveille” and the National Anthem. The chairman of the War Memorial Committee declared the memorial to be a gift of the subscribers to the township forever, and the chairman of Formby Urban District Council, Councillor Thomas Tickle, JP, accepted, on behalf of Formby Township. Dignitaries, relatives and friends laid wreaths of Remembrance at the base of the memorial.

The Second World War Memorial is made from silver-grey Cornish granite and sits behind the First World War memorial cross. The unveiling ceremony took place on Sunday 12th November 1950, with representatives from local organisations. These included the British Legion and army contingent, and the Red Cross. Charles H. Leggatt, a member of the War Memorial Committee, unveiled the names of the fallen, and Canon H.P. Barsley conducted the dedication ceremony. Formby Urban District Council chairman Henry S. Hutchinson accepted the memorial into public ownership for all time.

Names from subsequent confIicts have since been added.