THE WYKEHAM JOURNAL 2023
‘ It took me some time to take in the responsibility of taking all this paint off ,’ Josephine said ; ‘ I got very interested in the story it tells ; I do feel very privileged to be working on this . And it ’ s got to go back right . I ’ ve become quite protective . It means so much to so many .’ The removal of the paint reveals how beautiful the original stone carving was . Josephine ’ s team all admired the ingenuity and skill with which those carving the letters made them all fit . Heraldic creatures occasionally throw up fresh decisions . The lions have been given back their traditional blue tongues and claws . The arms of the allied and Commonwealth nations are all in the cloister and the head of the American bald eagle will remain black rather than the normal white . Pictures taken before the 1960s restoration show it black , so it stays that way .
The Headmaster who began War Cloister was Monty Rendall , who was determined that the memorial should lie on the everyday walking route from the Commoner Boarding Houses to classrooms . The final cost by 1924 was
We have 18 Grade I Listed Buildings ,
6 Grade II * and over 70 Grade II
buildings maintained at no cost to the public purse .
The author of a book on the school described War Cloister as a “ single act of faith commemorating countless acts of faith ”.
£ 65,000 ( around £ 4.8m now ) all funded by donations from Wykehamists . The donors also insisted that the Warden and Fellows find separate funds to pay for the education of the son of any Wykehamist killed in the war who wished to come to the school . The cloister remains the largest private war memorial in Europe . The author of a book on the school described War Cloister as ‘ a single act of faith commemorating countless acts of faith ’.
The Act of Remembrance takes place there each year on a Sunday in November . War Cloister makes permanent the peaceful recall of Wykehamists who died amid horrifying carnage ; it embodies the sacrifice of service . As Josephine Walton said , ‘ It ’ s a humbling thing to see .’
To mark the centenary , Win Coll Soc has created a podcast series telling the stories of those remembered in War Cloister .
Stories from War Cloister podcast series can be listened to via the Win Coll Soc website , or through your preferred podcast app .
It has been downloaded in six continents .
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