A slight misunderstanding here the 1974 counties means post reorganisation
e.g. the list includes Avon, Humberside etc It does not include latter
changes such as the creation of unitary authorities.
I should also point out that I have taken this forward on behalf of the
English SMRs. I'm afraid I have no remit for Scotland or Wales, however, I'm
sure this will be discussed when I meet with my Scottish counterparts next
week.
Martin
-----Original Message-----
From: John Wood [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 27 November 2002 14:12
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: National Inventory of War Memorials and SMRs
Thanks to Jane for this. I for one look forward to receiving any records
for the pre-1975 counties of Caithness, Sutherland, Ross and Cromarty,
Nairnshire, Inverness-shire, Morayshire, and Argyll.
Some of the ones in Ross and Cromarty, Inverness-shire, Morayshire, and
Argyll will lie outwith our current boundaries and either these can be
copied to the authority that now covers these areas or I can pass them on.
Pre-1975 boundaries aren't a problem for us.
John Wood
-----Original Message-----
From: Jane Furlong [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 27 November 2002 11:57
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: National Inventory of War Memorials and SMRs
Dear All
Having seen the general discussion that has occurred following Martin's
message regarding the UK National Inventory of War Memorials I feel that it
is now my turn to reply (thanks though to Martin for answering some of the
questions)
I am afraid that we are stuck with the 1974 county boundaries as we are only
a staff of two with a tiny budget and if we made changes to the database
each time the boundaries changed we would never have time to do any proper
work! But I hope that we can work together to make the transfer of
information as easy and as relevant to each SMR as possible. Maybe the fact
that we do record to district level will be a way forward and will be of use
to places like Southend.
With regard to the discussion about recording listed memorials and ones in
conservation areas, Martin has now sent the listings list and we will update
each record accordingly. As for conservation areas, we do record them but
only if we have been sent the information by our field workers. Because of
the nature of the Inventory we have had to reply on a vast team of volunteer
field workers to collect the information. As these people have come from a
variety of backgrounds and interests the type of information they record
does vary. For example, Family Historians are really only interested in the
names on memorials as opposed to the memorial itself so all we sometimes get
are name lists. On the other hand, other field workers have done thorough
surveys and completed as many parts of the form as they can. For everyone's
interest, I have attached a Word copy of our standard recording form so you
can see what we ask them to find.
The whole question of protection of memorials is a very grey area. We work
very closely with Friends of War Memorials and all their casework is done on
a town/village basis so the transfer of information we hold is very easy.
The main problem we encounter is finding out who wants to claim
responsibility for their local memorial. The Local Authority Acts go some
way to providing an example to follow but the majority of memorials were
erected without any form of financial backing for their future upkeep as the
local populace assumed that future generations would care for the memorials.
Also, the majority of memorials are not on local authority owned land so, in
very simplistic terms, it is down to the church or owner of the building to
fund its upkeep. The UKNIWM was established with the remit of being a
centralised repository of information that people can then use in what ever
way they wish. It can help to provide a central contact for the information
regarding the memorial but then we leave it to the experts to be able to
carry out the physical protection.
I hope this has gone some way to answering the questions posed but if anyone
is ever near the Imperial War Museum and would like to look at the database
more closely you are more than welcome to visit. Alternatively, questions by
e-mail are more than fine!
Mrs Jane Furlong
Project Officer
United Kingdom National Inventory of War Memorials
Imperial War Museum
Lambeth Road
London SE1 6HZ
Tel: 020 7416 5445
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