Public pressure has been mounting for several years to clean the York North Eastern Railway War Memorial at Station Rise, which was officially opened 100 years ago, and commemorates hundreds of local men who died in both world wars.
The memorial serves as a focus for remembrance each year.
Moves to clean the memorial have been held up while tests have been carried out to determine the best way to clean the historic monument without causing further damage.
But this week Network Rail, which has responsibility for the monument, has submitted a planning application to the City of York Council for the memorial to be cleaned and repaired.
The opening of the North Eastern Railway war memorial on Station Rise in 1924.
York Normandy veteran Ken Cooke said it was about time the war memorial was cleaned.
“It is disgusting. It was getting to the point where I was going to take a bar of soap and do it myself!” he told The Press.
“It’s a memorial to the lads who didn’t come home, and it should be looked after. It is there for a very good purpose, so I’m very pleased that they are going to clean it.”
Nick Bielby of the York Normandy Veterans Association added: “It is wonderful news – but it is about time. The condition that it is currently in is disrespectful to those that gave their lives. It really needs to be restored to its former glory.”
York Normandy veteran Joseph Wood, who served on a minesweeper clearing mines from the approach to the Normandy beaches, said he was delighted that the war memorial was going to be cleaned. “We shouldn’t forget those who gave their lives,” the 99-year-old said. “It should be cleaned as a mark of respect.”
Duncan Marks of York Civic Trust said the poor state of the memorial was an “embarrassment” to the city and added: “It’s York most iconic and evocative war memorial. Its prominence and location, on the route between the railway station and the city centre, mean that millions pass and notice it each year.
“From this, for many in the city, its poor maintenance has been a huge embarrassment. It risks us being seen as seemingly not caring for the city’s war dead and connected heritage.
“This year being the centenary of the memorial’s unveiling makes the proposed cleaning all the more timely. But we should be realistic, and not see this as a one-fix solution. There’s a real need for continuous conservation of our war memorials.”
Shane Sayner who led a campaign and a petition to clean up York, including the war memorial, also welcomed the news, and said he would now be putting on pressure to make sure the monument was cleaned in time for remembrance events in November.
He said: “There is a lot of outrage about York looking scruffy. We handed our petition into the council this week – we got 2,547 names in just three weeks.
“When I was younger, I remember the memorial being white and I could read all the names. It’s extremely important to have this cleaned.
“It’s shameful – especially when the memorial is right next to the council offices. It’s so disrespectful.”
In its Design and Access statement to planners, Network Rail states that trial cleaning of the monument has already been undertaken with the discovery that steam cleaning appeared to be the “most effective and acceptable” method “with no apparent loss of surface to the stone”.
The report says the current soiling of the memorial could be a combination of “pollution, biological growth, previous chemical or abrasive cleaning, natural weathering and poor detailing”.
Under the plan, the entire memorial would be cleaned – but the intention is not to return it to its original appearance.
The memorial, which is made of Portland stone, bears the names of 2,236 men of NER who lost their lives in the First World War.
To the rear of the Stone of Remembrance are 15 slate panels bearing the names of 551 men who lost their lives in the Second World War.
In 2011, the First World War names were recorded on bronze plaques located next to the memorial.
The names from both wars are also recorded in Books of Remembrance in York’s National Railway Museum.
The monument, which was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens and built in 1923.
The memorial is Grade-II listed. The site lies within York’s Central Historic Core Conservation Area.
The planning application (ref:24/01362/LBC) can be viewed at planningaccess.york.gov.uk
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