Great Harwood War Memorial

The Great Harwood War Memorial, designed by William Kirkpatrick and built in 1926, commemorates the First World War and subsequent conflicts. The memorial is constructed from Creetown granite with lead lettering and stands on a three-stepped base. The main feature is a large, square, tapering obelisk with three distinct stages. The top stage has a pyramidal cap and three stepped courses, with a slight setback forming a projecting band. This band creates the arms of a cross, incorporating raised central shafts on each face and at the angles between the shafts. The stage below projects slightly outward to align flush with these shafts, and bears inscriptions. The east face displays Gothic lettering, reading "TO OUR/ GLORIOUS/ DEAD/ 1914 1918/ AND/ 1939 1945". The south face has affixed metal lettering listing the dates of the Second World War followed by the names of 55 individuals who died in that conflict. The west face includes metal lettering commemorating conflicts in Malaya (1948-1960), Korea (1950-1953), and the Falklands Campaign (1982), alongside names. Below these inscriptions, a band of stylized laurel leaves carves a slight splay, incorporating roundels with the Lancashire rose at the centre of each face and corner. The wider foot of the obelisk is treated as an entablature with a stepped cornice and a cavetto-moulded architrave, along the frieze, an inscription reads "AT THE GOING DOWN/ OF THE SUN AND IN/ THE MORNING WE WILL/ REMEMBER THEM". The plinth slightly tapers and has a splayed base. Applied lettering on the east face reads “TO THE GLORY OF GOD AND IN MEMORY OF THE MEN FROM/ THIS TOWN WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES FOR THEIR COUNTRY/ IN THE GREAT WAR, AS A THANK OFFERING FOR THOSE/ WHO SERVED IN THE WAR AND HAVE BEEN RESTORED TO/ THEIR HOMES, AND AS A PERPETUAL REMINDER OF FOUR/ YEARS OF GREAT ANXIETY AND SORROW WHICH WE/ SHARED TOGETHER AND OF THE GLORIOUS VICTORY WHICH/ BY THE MERCY OF GOD FINALLY CROWNED OUR ARMS.” The names of 371 individuals who died in the First World War are recorded on the remaining faces of the plinth. The base consists of a tall upper step, followed by two shallower steps, the lowest of which has a projecting edge.