Heritage Lottery funding for WWI shrines

Beverley Town Council has received £5,400 from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for a new project, Street Shrines of Beverley.

Awarded through HLF’s First World War: then and now programme, the project will focus on the renovation, replacement of the existing Street Shrines, along with a specially written play and workshop of the existing Street Shrines of Beverley. 

Beverley Town Council will also stage three events to commemorate the beginning of WWI to include the Statues Cradling Toys play on Friday 1 August at 7pm at Toll Gavel United Church, The Reading of Names on Sunday 3 August at 11.30pm at the Market Cross and The Sunset Ceremony - When the Lights Went Out on Monday 4 August at 8.15pm, at Hengate Memorial Garden.

To mark the Centenary of the First World War, the project will enable local people in Beverley to come together to preserve the  memories and heritage of the people who lived through the First World War. It will give an opportunity for the people of the town and visitors to learn more about the unique Street Shrines of Beverley and aspects of how the WWI affected Beverley. This will be produced in remaking the Street Shrines along with music and poetry readings from the era.

The Street Shrines are important to Beverley as they are unique and were paid for and made by the people of the town in WWI to commemorate all those who left the town and joined the forces. The original Street Shrines will be kept in the archives and the copies of the Street Shrines will be placed in the exact location of the original Street Shrine.

This is a vital heritage for our townsfolk to maintain, as was done in WWI. The play, Statues Cradling Toys is, again, unique and especially written by Rob Bell and is based on the War Memorial in Hengate Gardens, Beverley. This is all part of Beverley’s rich heritage and should be maintained and promoted.

Commenting on the award, Mayor of Beverley Cllr Paul McGrath said: “We are grateful to have received the support of the Heritage Lottery Fund to recreate the much cherished Street Shrines of Beverley to commemorate those who served in WWI, without whom we may not have been here today. The play of ‘Statues Cradling Toys’ will be interesting and educational for many people in the town of Beverley and beyond."

Explaining the importance of the HLF support, the head of the HLF in Yorkshire and the Humber, Fiona Spiers, said: “The impact of the First World War was far reaching, touching and shaping every corner of the UK and beyond. The Heritage Lottery Fund has already invested more than £56million in projects – large and small - that are marking this global Centenary; with our new small grants programme, we are enabling even more communities like those involved in Street Shrines of Beverley to explore the continuing legacy of this conflict and help local people to broaden their understanding of how it has shaped our modern world.”