Little Lever Library War Memorial Plaque

The Little Lever Library War Memorial Plaque is a war memorial unveiled on 17 August 1940, sculpted by Mr. W H Doxey of Levenshulme. It features a rectangular wall plaque set into the front wall of the Little Lever Memorial Library, positioned approximately 0.74 meters above the building's podium. The plaque is made of sea green Coniston slate, which frames a central buff coloured sandstone bas-relief panel.

The bas-relief depicts the years 1914-1918 above a recumbent soldier, who appears to be sleeping on a slab, wrapped in a shroud with only his head exposed. A Brodie steel helmet and a 'new pattern forage cap with peak' are placed at either end of the slab. The panel is signed W H DOXEY in the bottom left-hand corner. The frame of the plaque features stepped moulded exterior edges and re-bated interior edges, with a projecting keystone that displays the Lever coat of arms, which includes a knight's helmet, feathers on either side, and a small shield. The motto reads: VELTIMERE MUTARE SPERNO, meaning "I scorn to change, or to fear."

The base panel of the frame is inscribed with the words: IN MEMORY OF THE MEN / OF LITTLE LEVER / WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES IN THE GREAT WAR / THEIR NAMES LIVETH FOR EVER MORE. On either end of the plaque, two large panels list the 79 names of the Fallen from the First World War. Below the main inscription, two secondary rectangular tablets of Coniston slate are placed together, inscribed with the years 1939-1945 and recording the 28 names of the Fallen from the Second World War.