Oldham War Memorial, including memorial wall, piers, gates and steps to St Mary’s churchyard and forecourt walls, steps and balustrade (south side), and railings to St Mary's Churchyard (west side).

Oldham War Memorial stands on a raised stone-paved area above the High Street, immediately south of the Church of St Mary and St Peter (rebuilt 1827–30, listed Grade II*), which sits at the town's highest point. The memorial, the churchyard entrance and the church's south porch are aligned on the same axis.

The freestanding memorial consists of a large rectangular granite pedestal on a shallow stepped base, designed to resemble a mausoleum. A pair of bronze coffered doors on the north side, decorated with wreaths and cartouches, provides access to a chamber within. On the south side, matching doors were replaced in 1955 by a window displaying a mechanised Roll of Honour recording the names of local servicemen who died in the Second World War. The south side of the pedestal bears the inscription "DEATH IS THE GATE OF LIFE / 1914–1918" and the north side reads "TO GOD BE THE PRAISE".

The pedestal is surmounted by a massive bronze sculpture depicting a trench scene with five infantrymen, bayonets fixed, going "over the top". The composition shows soldiers moving along the trench, ascending its sides and standing atop the parapet, with great dynamism achieved through detailed rendering of battle dress, weaponry, equipment, sandbags, timber revetments, and artillery shells on the trench floor.

The forecourt is enclosed on the south and west sides by sandstone ashlar walls, incorporating a flight of steps from the High Street pavement at the south and a shorter flight on the west side. The walls carry a cast-iron balustrade featuring a Greek-key pattern frieze. Adjacent stone walls to the west, enclosing a small rectangular memorial garden, were added in the later 20th century. To the west of the parish church, the churchyard boundary comprises 19th-century railings included in the listing.

The churchyard wall to the rear of the freestanding monument is built in sandstone ashlar with an off-centre gateway and crenellated parapet, forming a segmental inward curve at the south-west angle. Retained 19th-century terminal piers feature narrow relief panels carved with scrolls and foliate decoration and shallow pyramidal caps, similarly carved. The tall gate piers have cruciform upper sections inset with small decorative piers, low-relief crosses on the front face and tall moulded caps. Cast-iron globe lamps are later 20th-century replacements. The cast-iron gates carry scrolled and foliate decoration. Two flights of stone steps and flanking walls form part of the composition.

The upper section of the walls frames a series of continuous bronze panels—two to the left of the gate and five to the right—bearing the names of the fallen in relief lettering. Shields above the joints depict the Royal Arms, the arms of the Duchy of Lancaster and the County Borough of Oldham, the RAF badge and the White Ensign. A frieze across the top of the panels reads "THESE TABLETS WERE ERECTED / BY THE CITIZENS OF OLDHAM / AS A LASTING MEMORIAL / TO THEIR FELLOW TOWNSMEN / WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES / IN THE GREAT WAR / ANNO DOMINI 1914–1918". The wall's lower section contains bronze panels inscribed with the names of those who died in the Second World War.

While the ensemble is listed as a single entity, the war memorial components possess the greater significance.