Darwen War Memorial

The Darwen War Memorial is a First World War memorial erected in 1921 by the Municipal Borough of Darwen. It features a bronze sculpture by LF Roslyn and is made of a bronze statue on a sandstone pedestal.

The memorial is situated on a paved five-stepped platform near the north-east entrance to Bold Venture Park, which was laid out between 1889 and 1914. It is positioned to be viewed against the backdrop of a lake surrounded by mature trees.

The structure consists of a tall, square sandstone ashlar pedestal on a stepped base, topped by a statue of winged Victory standing on a globe. She holds a laurel wreath in her left hand and an olive branch in her right. The pedestal has a deep cornice and features a torus and cavetto moulding above the plinth.

The front (south) face of the pedestal is inscribed with a tribute to over 1,200 citizens of the town who lost their lives in the Great War from 1914 to 1918, as well as those who died in the war of 1939 to 1945. Above this inscription is a carved relief of the Darwen Borough arms, flanked by inverted torches.

The west, north, and east faces of the pedestal have inset bronze reliefs depicting an infantryman, a nurse, and a seaman, respectively. Each panel features a bronze laurel wreath above and a carved inscription below, representing HONOUR, HUMANITY, and FREEDOM. The details of their dress and weaponry are carefully depicted.

The inscriptions on the plinth include "LEST WE FORGET" on the front, "IS IT NOTHING TO YOU / ALL YE WHO PASS BY" on the west (a quotation from Lamentations 1:12), "THEY DIED NOT IN VAIN" on the north, and "THEIR NAME LIVETH FOR EVERMORE" on the east.

The sides and rear of the platform are enclosed by a series of short tapering posts, with four on the sides and two at the rear. The terminal posts are adorned with carved lions, while the intervening chains have been removed.

The Darwen War Memorial was listed at Grade II in 1984 and stands within Bold Venture Park, which is a Grade II registered landscape.