Site:

War Memorial,

Cemetery Road / Plymouth Road

Grid Reference:    

SP 0362 6717

Description:

War memorial. 1927 by the Bromsgrove Guild. Ashlar with channelled rustication. Tall archway on plinth with plain base. Set upon a pedestal within the archway is a bronze urn containing a lamp. Roman military emblems carved on sides.

Significance:

Excellent example of its type by a prominent firm of local craftsmen that forms a landmark feature. .

History:

The Gardens of Remembrance, at the bottom of Plymouth Road, were originally laid out in 1925 by John Gibson Blakey to honour -the men of Redditch who have given their lives for our country-.

The centre piece of the gardens is the -Peace Memorial-, a cenotaph-like structure, containing within its arch a bronze bowl holding an -ternal flame-lamp which is constantly lit.  This memorial was designed and made by the renowned group of local craftsmen known as the Bromsgrove Guild � a group also responsible for, amongst countless other commissions, the Liver Birds in Liverpool Docks and the gates of Buckingham Palace.

The large white stone edifice bears a bronze laurel wreath on the front and bronze Roman helmets and swords on another two of its sides.  It is inscribed:

To the Glory of God and in Everlasting Memory of Those of Redditch who in the Great War faced Death and passed Out of Our Sight.

The Gardens and Memorial were extensively refurbished in 2005/6, a project which included landscaping and restoring the decorative entrance gates.