Crewe War Memorial

Crewe War Memorial

This First World War memorial was designed in 1924 by Walter Henry Gilbert of Birmingham, with the bronze statue cast by H H Martyn & Co. It was unveiled on 14 June 1924 by General Sir Ian Hamilton and originally stood in Market Square before being relocated to Municipal Square in 2006.

The memorial comprises a shallow square limestone ashlar plinth supporting a large square base erected in 2006. The sides of this base are set with bronze plaques inscribed with names of the fallen: 20 plaques recording those killed in the First World War, 7 for the Second World War, and 1 for later 20th-century conflicts including the Falkland and Gulf Wars. Above the base rises a tapered limestone pedestal with a rusticated band to its lower section, crowned by a bronze statue of Britannia standing on chains and holding a trident and palm leaf.

The front of the pedestal bears an inscription reading: "THIS STATUE WAS / PLACED TO COMMEMORATE / THE MEN OF CREWE / WHO SEEKING THE / WELFARE OF THEIR / COUNTRY GAVE THEIR / LIVES IN SO DOING / AND ARE NOW RESTING / IN AND BEYOND / THE SEAS". The reverse of the base is inscribed "LIFT UP YOUR HEARTS / 1914 - 1918". The paving surrounding the memorial displays the Kohima Epitaph: "WHEN YOU GO HOME TELL THEM OF US AND SAY FOR YOUR TOMORROW WE GAVE OUR TODAY". In front of the memorial, paving bears Laurence Binyon's 1914 poem: "THEY SHALL GROW NOT OLD AS WE THAT ARE LEFT GROW OLD. AGE SHALL NOT WEARY THEM NOR THE YEARS CONDEMN. AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN AND IN THE MORNING. WE SHALL REMEMBER THEM".

The memorial originally featured the Roll of Honour bronze plaques set into a raised pavement; these were relocated to the sides of the base during the 2006 relocation. Plaques commemorating Second World War casualties were added after the war, with those for Falkland and Gulf War casualties added more recently.