Major restoration work has begun on the Gosford cenotaph ahead of its centenary in 2024 thanks to a grant from the NSW Government’s Community War Memorials Fund.
Freemasons of the Central Coast has provided additional financial support to restore the WWI and WWII Fallen Soldier panels.
Gosford RSL Sub-Branch and Merril Jackson, historian and creative coordinator of the Gosford and Terrigal Poppy Projects, have united to ensure the significant First World War monument, which was in dire need of repair, is preserved and ready for next year’s milestone.
“Gosford cenotaph is of outstanding and rare heritage importance to NSW as an intact war monument and cultural landscape,” Jackson said.
“The design is an early example of a cenotaph in NSW with a unique association with prominent battlefield monuments on the Western Front and to the Gallipoli Memorial Scheme.
“The cenotaph has heritage importance in Gosford Memorial Park due to its elevated landmark alignment to the west.”
The Government gran funded a Heritage Asset Action Plan which guides the restoration work, with retention of water issues and biological growth on the memorial’s surface excessive long before the torrential rain of early 2022
Jackson said the monument’s poor condition involves several factors, including the raised platform and the permanent damage caused by invasive cleaning methods of the past involving bleaching and Gerni High Pressure Washers.
“Meticulous care by heritage specialists is involved in this restoration process to ensure we retain the heritage integrity and social history of the cenotaph,” she said.
Shortly after the First World War, the former Erina Shire Chamber Council instigated a memorial scheme and established a Memorial Committee to erect a memorial in the Gosford township.
Funds raised by the Gosford and district community enabled its construction.
The local Council instigated the memorial scheme before Gosford RSL Sub-Branch was formed and united with the Gosford Red Cross Society to fundraise.
Jackson has undertaken extensive research on the monument over the past decade.
“The Central Coast has the only existing freestanding war memorial designed by Keesing in Australia; an architect who was one of the most important leaders of Great War memorial contemporary design in our nation,” she said.
“Gordon Keesing was the Australian Principal Architect behind some of Australia’s most significant Great War monuments created for battlefields abroad.
“These designs represent the contribution of Australia in the Great War and the service and sacrifice of the Australian Imperial Force.”
Source:
Media release, Feb 17
Merril Jackson