Crompton War Memorial

The Crompton War Memorial stands in public gardens on the north side of Shaw and Crompton High Street. Designed by Richard Reginald Goulden, it was erected as a tribute to those who died in both World Wars.

The memorial features an impressive bronze sculpture set on a four-stepped Aberdeen granite pedestal, which stands on a two-stepped Aberdeen granite plinth. Additional half-steps on either side facilitate access to the bronze relief name plaques. The large bronze sculpture portrays an athletic male warrior leaning forward, plunging a sword into the jaws of two heavily muscular beasts at his feet; he uses his right hand for the action and wears a loin cloth and a cape that billows behind him. The beasts display exaggerated bone and muscle structures, sharp claws, and sabre-like teeth. The warrior is protecting a group of small children, also in loin cloths, with two to his right, three to his left, and one behind, depicted in varied poses. The warrior’s left hand holds the hand of a child standing at his side. The base is signed "R R GOULDEN SCULP" near the figure’s right foot.

The south-facing front of the pedestal bears a dedication in raised bronze lettering, remembering the men of Crompton who gave their lives to free mankind from oppression and tyranny during the years 1914-1919 and 1939-1945. Bronze panels on the sides of the pedestal list the names of the fallen – 346 in total – in relief lettering. The tops of these panels are wreathed and feature relief profiles of a soldier and an airman on the east side, and a seaman and soldier on the west side, each inscribed with ‘PRO PATRIA’. A bronze panel on the rear face lists the 76 names of those who died in the Second World War, inscribed with the words “TO THE HONOUR AND GLORY OF THE MEN WHO LOST / THEIR LIVES 1939 – 1945 / (NAMES)”.