Waterhead War Memorial is a Grade II listed building in the Oldham local planning authority area, England. First listed on 22 March 2018. War memorial.

Waterhead War Memorial

WRENN ID
scattered-lancet-rook
Grade
II
Local Planning Authority
Oldham
Constituency
Oldham East and Saddleworth MP: Debbie Abrahams (Lab)
Country
England
Date first listed
22 March 2018
Type
War memorial
Address
Waterhead War Memorial, Junction with Brideoak Street, Heywood Street and Huddersfield Road, Greater Manchester
OS grid reference
SD 950 058
Coordinates
53.54932, -2.07673
Source
Historic England listing

Also on this page: flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

The Waterhead War Memorial is a First World War memorial built in 1920, with additions for the Second World War. It is made of sandstone and features a bronze statue.

The memorial is situated in a hard landscaped area at the junction of Brideoak Street and Heywood Street, meeting Huddersfield Road. The bronze statue depicts a soldier advancing in a moment of victory, holding a bayonet in his right hand and raising his helmet in his left. The soldier stands on a tiered pedestal that is atop a tall, four-sided plinth. This plinth has a square cap with a moulded cornice underneath and ends with a moulded foot. It rests on a square, block base, which is set on a narrow, square platform. All inscriptions on the memorial are incised.

The principal inscription on the north-west face of the plinth reads, "TO/ THE MEN OF/ WATERHEAD/ WHO FOUGHT/ AND FELL/ IN THE/ GREAT WAR/ 1914-1919." On the south-east face, there is another inscription stating, "ERECTED/ BY PUBLIC/ SUBSCRIPTION/ UNVEILED BY/ ELISHA BARDSLEY J.P./ APRIL 17TH 1920." The north-east face features the Second World War dedication, which says, "IN MEMORY OF/ THE MEN AND WOMEN/ OF THIS PARISH/ WHO FELL DURING THE/ 1939-1945/ WAR./ 'AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN,/ AND IN THE MORNING/ WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.'" Additionally, the north-east face of the base lists the four names of the members of the War Memorial Committee.

Local climate

Waterhead War Memorial sits in a wetter-than-average part of the UK, with an average of 1,040 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 84% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 76% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 43 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 84% of listed buildings. Of these, 24 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.

Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.

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