06 January, 2013

Lancaster's war memorial village

In the town of Lancaster there is a serene estate of cottages surrounding a war memorial, Lancaster's tribute to the bravery of the men who fought in the 1914-1918 world war. Originally established in 1919 as a Lancaster charity the Westfield War Memorial village is now run by Guinness Trust and is so secluded even google streetview did not visit it. The cottages are in the Cottage Plans and Common Sense style of Parker and Unwin but thankfully without the lavatory being next to the front door. All the cottages have names of either the benefactor who gave the money or a battle honour - Co-operative Cottage doated by the Lancaster Co-operative Society and Ypres Cottage by the Kings Own Royal Lancaster Regiment depot. One or two had a brass plaque commemorating a particular effort of the Regiment. The whole estate was most attractively laid out with a bowling green and tree lined streets with different styles of cottages in each. Although it was not laid out as originally planned it still appears a pleasant place to live. The whole village is centred on a war memorial showing a wounded soldier receiving a drink of water from a comrade.

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