Compstall War Memorial

A War Memorial of 1922, by H Cecil Powell of Manchester.

MATERIALS: buff sandstone.

DESCRIPTION: standing close to the church of St Paul (National Heritage List for England (NHLE) entry 1242539) and the parish hall, the memorial comprises a stone cross on a tapering square plinth, and four octagonal steps. The overall height is around 2.1m. The cross is modelled after Sir Reginald Blomfield’s Cross of Sacrifice, with octagonal shaft and arms, and a wheelhead cross carved in the centre of the crossing. The cross has a moulded foot, which is square at its base. This stands on the moulded cap of the plinth. The inscriptions, in raised lettering within incised fields, are on the west (front), north and south faces of the plinth. The front, in Gothic script, reads ‘TO THE GLORY/ OF GOD AND/ IN PROUD AND/ LOVING MEMORY/ OF THE/ MEN OF COMPSTALL/ WHO LAID DOWN/ THEIR LIVES IN/ THE GREAT WAR/ 1914-1919’. The names, in serifed capitals and in alphabetical order (without ranks), commence on the north face, with a further 16 on the south face.