Building record 130/7/14 - Brackley War Memorial

NB. Need to check EH's mapping of this monument (and their Listing) as their definitive map OS background shows a "War Memorial" c. 50m to the north-east.

{1} War memorial, 1920. Additions for later conflicts.
Brackley War Memorial, in the town's central Market Place, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Historic interest: as an eloquent witness to the tragic impact of world events on the local community, and the sacrifice it made in the conflicts of the C20;
* Design: an ambitious and slightly unusual design, whose scale befits its prominent place in the town’s Market Place;
* Group value: with various listed buildings around the Market Place, including the Town Hall (Grade II*).
History
The memorial was unveiled on 5 October 1920 by General Lord Horne. Additional names and inscriptions were added in 1945 commemorating the dead of the Second World War. The memorial was cleaned and the lettering repainted in 1989. In 2006 as part of civic improvements the memorial was moved within the Market Place closer to the Town Hall. The name of a serviceman killed in Afghanistan has been added. The memorial was cleaned and the lettering re-painted in 2014.
Details
The memorial stands in the south-west part of Brackley’s long Market Place, in a pedestrianized area in front of the Grade II*-listed Town Hall. Of Clipsham limestone, it comprises a three-stepped octagonal base surmounted by a c6 m high, three-tiered, octagonal column, each face slightly concave, surmounted by a cross. The lowest tier carries the names of the theatres of war and the great battles. The 68 names of the fallen from the First World War are recorded in the middle tier. The principal dedication, inscribed on a plaque on the upper part of the middle tier, reads TO THE MEN OF/ BRACKLEY/ WHO GAVE THEIR/ LIVES FOR KING/ AND COUNTRY/ IN THE GREAT WAR/ 1914-1919. Above the plaque, in a decorative cartouche, are the arms of Brackley.
The memorial is surrounded by a recent (c2006) low wall. Either side of iron gates, plaques record the 15 names of those lost in the Second World War. On the wall coping to the side of the gates is inscribed the name of a serviceman killed in Afghanistan in 2009.
Selected Sources:
Imperial War Museum War Memorials Archive, accessed 02/02/2015 from
http://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/15004
Northampton Museum and Art Gallery, Flickr stream of archive photographs, accessed 05/12/2014 from
https://www.flickr.com/photos/northampton_museum/7948970810/
War Memorials Trust. Grants Showcase (Brackley), accessed 24/02/2015 from
http://www.warmemorials.org/search-grants/?gID=1122

<1> ENGLISH HERITAGE, 2015, Brackley War Memorial, (part checked) (Designation Advice Report). SNN110003.

Record last edited

May 20 2015 1:29PM