| Description: | Mowbray Park is a public park laid out by the borough council in the 1850s.
History: The land was secured in 1854. The park opened in 1857, and an extension was opened in 1866. A vast Winter Garden was built and opened in 1879, but was damaged by bombing in 1941 and demolshed in 1942.
Size: 7.0 ha
Current Use: public park
Feature: bandstand - Replica of the 1883 bandstand.
Feature: War memorial [1922] War memorial with a winged figure of Victory on top of a tall polished Tuscan column. This rises above an ashlar pedestal, on which are carved low-relief down-turned torches and wreathes beneath the inscription panels. Victory holds out a laurel wreath in her right hand and a torch in her left. The whole is set on two steps within a raised and fenced enclosure on the edge of Mowbray Park.
Described as 'possibly the most impressive ceremony ever seen in Sunderland', the inauguration of its First World War memorial was an affecting occasion for the city. A large procession of military and associated units proceeded the unveiling by Colonel Ernest Vaux CMG, DSO and dedication by the Bishop of Durham. Credit was paid to Ray, head of the local art school, who was both sculptor and architect of the monument. Walter Raine MP asked the Mayor to accept the memorial: 'I believe that many thousands will cast an upward glance at it and when they see the figure of Victory they will think of the horrors of war, and be grateful for the blessings of peace.' The dates of the Second World War were added to the Memorial at the end of that conflict. |
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