Withers and Henderson Memorial

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A memorial of Giffnock sandstone erected c.1873 in High Victorian Gothic style, prominently located directly to W of Holywood Priory and commemorating the lives of James Withers and Edwin Henderson, drowned 1873.

The memorial is square-plan on a stepped ashlar base, flanked by offset buttresses topped by gableted cusped pinnacles and pointed finials. Each face rises to a pointy gable with star carving to apex and roll moulded ridge, rising to a steep corbelled stone roof. Each face has a pointed-arched recess with rope-moulded head supported on red polished granite colonettes with foliated capitals. Main face to west has an anchor carved into the tympanum, and the colonettes flank a marble tablet bearing a memorial inscription. Other faces have a blank tympanum and marble tablet.

The memorial is set at the junction of Bangor Road and Priory Park, surrounded by a civic space consisting of paved footpath and flowerbeds.

Material: Giffnock sandstone and red polished granite

Historical information

The memorial, dating from c1875 and bearing the mark of the stonemason, ‘W Graham, York Street, Belfast’, commemorates the death by drowning of two young men from Holywood, and appears on the third edition OS map of 1900-2. It is captioned as a monument on later editions.

On 16th August 1873, the crew of the Holywood Rowing and Swimming Club, among them Edwin Henderson and James Withers, set off from Holywood Pier in fair weather for the Greenisland Regatta. Henderson was the son of Rev H Henderson, Minister of First Holywood Presbyterian church (HB23/20/014). An unexpected storm blew up at Garmoyle and their boat was capsized. Three of the crew managed to catch hold of the boat and were eventually rescued by the steamer Erin, on her way to Belfast, but Withers and Henderson were drowned. After much searching both bodies were recovered. (Auld, p.25; www.belfasthistoryproject.com)

Primary Sources

1.PRONI OS/6/3/1/3 – Third Edition OS Map 1900-02
2.PRONI OS/6/3/1/4 – Fourth Edition OS Map 1919-31
3.PRONI OS/6/3/1/5 – Fifth Edition OS Map 1938-41

Secondary

1.Auld, C. “Holywood Co Down, Then and Now” Holywood: Con Auld, 2002
2.www.belfasthistoryproject.com

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
D. Plan Form

Criteria for listing: historic interest

X. Local Interest

Evaluation

The Withers and Henderson memorial is a fine High Victorian Gothic set piece c 1875, well executed in Giffnock sandstone with red granite collonnettes and marble memorial tablet. The memorial commemorates a tragic incident on Belfast Lough in 1873 when two young local men lost their lives in a boating accident. The detailing has a nautical theme, with rope and anchor carving. The memorial is prominently located at the junction of Bangor Road and Priory Park, directly adjacent to the Priory, and is a landmark of local interest.