Didsbury War Memorial

The Didsbury War Memorial is a Portland stone monument located on Wilmslow Road, opposite the Rhodes Memorial Clock Tower and in front of Didsbury Public Library. It stands within a small, railed garden at the end of a short paved path, flanked by two small lawns. The memorial rises from a three-stepped stone base to a tall, two-stage plinth that is square in plan and narrows by offsets to a pedestal. The pedestal supports a shaft topped by a small cross fleury.

The upper stage of the plinth bears black, rectangular metal plaques on each side, with the names of those who fell inscribed in white lettering. The pedestal is decorated with carved wreaths and coats of arms, and low relief carvings of flambeaux are on each side of the cross shaft.

A principal dedicatory inscription on the front face of the plinth reads “DIDSBURY/WAR MEMORIAL/1914-1919/TO THE MEMORY OF THE/SACRED DEAD OF THIS/VILLAGE, WHO HAVING LEFT/ALL THAT WAS DEAR TO/THEM, ENDURED HARDSHIPS,/FACED DANGERS AND FINALLY/PAID THE SUPREME SACRIFICE/IN DEFENCE OF KING/AND COUNTRY./"LET THEIR NAMES BE EVER/REMEMBERED WITH GRATITUDE”/“MAY THEIR SOULS REST/IN PEACE." A Second World War dedication is incised into the stone of the lower stage, reading “IN MEMORY OF THOSE/WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES/IN THE SECOND GREAT WAR/1939 – 1945.” The names of those who died in the First World War are listed on three metal plaques on the remaining three sides of the plinth, with Second World War names on a plaque to the lower stage.