Plan for blue plaque marking birthplace of decorated WWI soldiers

Dale Spridgeon, local democracy reporter

The lives of two brothers who fought and died in the First World War could soon be commemorated on an historic building in their hometown.

Anglesey County Council planners want to mount a blue plaque on the external wall of the Plas Alltran building in Holyhead to commemorate it as the birthplace of the Fox-Russell brothers.

Born at Plas Alltran, and decorated for bravery, WWI; Capt. John Fox Russell, RAMC received the Military Cross and Victoria Cross (posthumously) and his younger brother Lt. Henry Fox Russell, RFC, received the Military Cross.

The plaque is proposed to be acutely angled on a corner location between Turkey Shore Road and Llanfawr Road on the property which is also known by some as the Doctor’s House.

Blackbridge

A house and surgery was built there in 1890-91 as part of a larger project to regenerate what was then called the Blackbridge area of Holyhead.

It is thought the building was purposely built for Holyhead’s first GP, Dr William Fox-Russell, the father of John and Henry. The doctor and his family lived at Plas Alltran until around 1900.

The historic property was commissioned by Jane Henrietta Adeane (1842-1926) a noted local philanthropist.

It was designed by the architect Arthur Baker, who surveyed and repaired Plas Mawr at Conwy, prior to it being made open to the public.

The property has had a variety of uses over the years, including as rented housing, classrooms for a nearby girls’ training institute, district nurse accommodation and a boarding house, but it has been empty and disused since the early 1970s.

Grade II listed

The Grade II listed property is described in its listing as a “good example of a late Victorian, Jacobethan style building, possibly inspired by Plas Mawr, Conwy”.

Listed building consent to mount a plaque has been submitted by Ned Michael through agent Vickki Hudson.

The plans described the plaque as being the standard 950mm diameter and 50mm depth roundel, as produced by Ned Heywood of Chepstow, who manufactures similar plaques for English Heritage and others.

It will be hand made of a highly durable high-fired porcelain which the plans say is highly resistant to breaks and scratches.

It is hoped the plaque will “create a tangible link between both the building’s past inhabitants and the person viewing the plaque, and between the building and its wider place within Holyhead’s history,” the application says.

“This will be done in the most sustainable and accessible way practicable within the constraints of the building’s design and location.”

The plans also note that a small unobtrusive History Points HiPoint QR sticker will be located nearby on a downpipe, close to a dropped kerb, which will detail more of the history of the building and the family.