PUBLIC ART IN SHEFFIELD
artist
not known
'Belgium Refugee Memorial', 1921
City Road Cemetery
Darley Dale sandstone with panels of green Cumberland stone
By the side of the Catholic Chapel, City Road Cemetery, Sheffield S2. (A-Z p.100 4B)
Inscription:
On top of the cross: I·N·R·I *
On the plinth: IN MEMORY OF SOLDIERS OF THE BELGIAN ARMY AND OF THE REFUGEES / WHO DIED IN SHEFFIELD DURING THE GREAT WAR 1914-1919 / MAY THEY REST IN PEACE // (NAMES) // 1914-1919 / DURING THE / GERMAN / OCCUPATION / OF BELGIUM IN THE GREAT WAR THREE THOUSAND / REFUGEES CAME TO RESIDE IN SHEFFIELD ...
Public subscription. " the raising of the memorial was the last act of the committee of Sheffielders who had banded together to help the refugees who came to the city, and who not only fed and housed them and educated their children, but sent them back to their homes again." Canon Dolan, Bishop of Sheffield as reported from an address on the occasion of the unveiling of the memorial. [1]
Sadly the Chapel is in a very poor state as are many of the graves in this part of the cemetery.
* INRI is the abbreviation for the Latin equivalent of 'Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews'; this being the inscription Pontius Pilate had affixed to Jesus' cross.
