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Meeniyan and Stony Creek WWI Memorial
Whitelaw Street MEENIYAN, South Gippsland Shire

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Vic. War Heritage Inventory

Meeniyan and Stony Creek WWI Memorial.jpg

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Statement of Significance
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Statement of Significance

What is Significant?
The Meeniyan & Stony Creek World War 1 memorial, constructed in 1923, at Whitelaw Street, Meeniyan.

Why is it Significant?
The Meeniyan & Stony Creek World War 1 memorial is of local historic, social and aesthetic significance to the township and district of Meeniyan.

Historically and socially, it was the first monument erected in the former Woorayl Shire and along with the Honour Avenue demonstrates the profound impact of the First World War upon small rural towns in the Shire. (AHC criteria - A.4 and D.2) Aesthetically, it is a locally superior example of a war memorial, and the best of only three examples in the Shire situated within an Honour Avenue. It is an important and focal part of the streetscape of Meeniyan. (AHC criterion - E.1)

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- Physical Description 1
  
  Meeniyan and Stony Creek WWI Memorial - Physical Description 1
  
  The Meeniyan & Stony Creek World War 1 memorial comprises a large square plinth surmounted by a broken column. On the faces of the plinth are the names who served in World War 1. A smaller obelisk to one side provides a memorial to later conflicts. The memorial is situated in the median of Whitelaw, within the appropriate and related setting provided by the Honour Avenue (q.v.).
  
  The broken column is a motif often used in cemeteries and war memorials to represent the loss of young life.
  
  Physical Description 2
  
  Meeniyan and Stony Creek WWI Memorial - Physical Description 2
  
  Style
  
  Interwar memorial
  
  Historical Australian Themes
  
  Meeniyan and Stony Creek WWI Memorial - Historical Australian Themes
  
  Thematic Context
  
  Government and Community Institutions
  
  Sub-Themes
  
  Institutions Military Defence
  
  Veterans Description for Public
  
  Meeniyan and Stony Creek WWI Memorial - Veterans Description for Public
  
  The Meeniyan and Stony Creek World War I Memorial, on Whitelaw Street, was constructed in 1923. The Meeniyan and Stony Creek Branch of the Returned Sailors', Soldiers', and Airman's Imperial League of Australia (RSSAILA) accepted a tender in August, 1922 to construct this Memorial for £360, and it was unveiled on 1 May 1923. Guests at the opening included Sir John Mackey MLA, Mr Thomas Patterson, Dr Pern of the Leongatha RSL, JM Molloy (Secretary of the local branch of the Soldier Settlement Board), and Cr John Eccles.
  
  The erection of the memorial followed the planting of the Honour Avenue in the median strip surrounding it five years earlier. The memorial itself comprises of a large square plinth surmounted by a broken column. The broken column is a motif often used in cemeteries and war memorials to represent the loss of young life. On the faces of the plinth are the names who served in the First World War. The Meeniyan R.S.L. rededicated the monument in honour of those who served in the Second World War and Vietnam.
  
  Heritage Study and Grading
  
  Heritage Study and Grading
  
  South Gippsland - South Gippsland Heritage Study
  
  Author: David Helms with Trevor Westmore
  Year: 2004
  Grading:
- Show:
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