The War Memorials
St. Bees is unusual in having two village war memorials.
Priory Graveyard
The first, and originally the official, memorial is in the Priory graveyard adjacent to the lych gate. This is a very fine cross in the Northumbrian celtic school of carving, and was designed by W G Collingwood, John Ruskin's secretary, a leading authority on this art form. Collingwood also designed the memorials for Coniston and Hawkshead. The names of the fallen of World War II are on a stone in the surround. This view shows the memorial today, the view at the at the start of this web page is a from a postcard sold in the 1920's.
St. George and the Dragon
The Second memorial is "St. George and the Dragon" and stands on a prominent site next to the railway station. This was designed and erected by J D Kenworthy, a local artist of Seacroft House, whose son Stanley was killed in 1916. Kenworthy thought the official memorial lacked impact and should have been sited in a more visible place. Hence he created the St. George sculpture. The huge block of sandstone was quarried in St. Bees and sent by the railway to the sculptors, thought to be in London or Liverpool, where it was executed to Kenworthy's design, then brought back by rail. Both memorials are now "official" and have been looked after by the Parish Council since the 1950's.
St Bees School memorial 
St. Bees School has its own War Memorial on the terrace adjacent to the Chapel, and there is a memorial to the School's three VC winners within the Chapel. The large playing field between Pow beck and the Priory was laid out in the 1920's as a memorial, and is known as the "Memorial Field" to this day. There is a comprehensive account of the St. Bees School dead in the First World War in the 152-page book "Roll of Honour and Record of Service" compiled by J W Aldous and published by the "Old St. Beghians Club" of St. Bees School in 1921. There is also a page of information on the Boer War.
The Hand
The Hand”, by Josefina de Vaconcellos. A War Memorial carved out of Honister green slate, was sited outside the Memorial Hall at St Bees School in 1955.
Other Memorials
There is a marble slab fixed to the north aisle of the Priory, which appears to have been an early village memorial.

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