The Veterans HQ based on Breck Road, today revealed the long lost fireplace surround that once adorned the Tiber Street Council School in Liverpool.
The ornately carved solid oak fire surround, is lovingly decorated with three removable panels displaying the names of former school students and teachers who lost their lives during WWI.
The surround was found in August in the cellar of Granby Adult Learning services. Liverpool City council’s Mayoral lead for Heritage and Design, Cllr Alice Bennett retrieved the surround which was in several pieces and much need of restoration.
When it became apparent that the artefact was actually a memorial to those fallen, Veterans HQ stepped in to undertake the task of repairing and restoring the surround to its former glory.
The surround will be available to view at Liverpool Town Hall from Monday 3 December in the remembrance room, until the Veterans HQ’s new facility, at the former Kings barracks on Everton Road, is complete.
Cllr Roy Gladden, said; “Finding this incredible memorial was such good luck I can hardly believe it. I’m so glad that it was found and Veterans HQ were able to restore it to how it would have looked when it was first made.
This memorial is as beautiful as it is heart-breaking. For one school community to lose this many young men is unimaginable, the pain and loss that this memorial represents is so poignant 100 years on.
We’re so lucky to have found it and to be able to forever pay our respects to those brave young men of Liverpool.”
Founding Trustee, Stuart Fitzgerald, said; “For Veterans HQ to be able to restore this memorial was a true privilege. Our volunteers have worked incredibly hard with an inordinate amount of respect and it’s been overwhelming to see it brought back to life.
Our current veterans and volunteers have taken such time and care to truly honour these young men and they’ve done a wonderful job. We’re now going to be working hard to see if we can trace the families of those named on the memorial to pay our respects.”
