Prescot War Memorial

First World War memorial, 1916, sculpted by Samuel Welsby of Widnes. Re-dedicated in 1946 to commemorate those lost during the Second World War. Aberdeen granite and polished granite. Columnar memorial surmounted by a soldier from the South Lancashire Regiment

The memorial has a square base with each face adorned with a polished granite plaque; that to the west face has engraved lettering that reads 'THIS MONUMENT/ WAS PRESENTED TO THE TOWN BY/ COUNCILLOR WM. JOHN LUCAS J.P./ DURING HIS TERM OF OFFICE AS CHAIRMAN/ OF THE COUNCIL 1915-1917/ IN MEMORY/ OF PRESCOT MEN WHO HAVE SACRIFICED THEIR/ LIVES FIGHTING FOR THEIR COUNTRY DURING/ THE GREAT EUROPEAN WAR OF 1914-1919/ UNVEILED BY LIEUT. COL. SIR HENRY WEBB BART M.P./ FOR THE EARL OF DERBY 9TH SEPTEMBER 1916'. The remaining three panels are engraved with the names of the fallen. Below the west panel is relief bronze lettering that reads 'ALSO IN MEMORY OF THOSE WHO FELL IN THE SECOND WORLD WAR 1939-1945/ DEDICATED NOV. 10TH 1946.', and below this are the names of the Second World War fallen, also in relief bronze lettering. The main body of the memorial is a tall banded-rusticated column incorporating an engaged anta (square column) to each face with a polished-granite shaft and grooved frieze (triglyph) at the top and bottom. At the base of the west anta is a carved relief of the Prescot coat of arms. Surmounting a dentilled cornice at the top of the memorial is a figure of a soldier from the South Lancashire Regiment holding a rifle, the tip of which, including a bayonet, has been removed. The bottom part of the rear of the figure, below his backpacks, is left roughly hewn as though he is stood in front of a rocky outcrop.

This List entry has been amended to add sources for War Memorials Online and the War Memorials Register. These sources were not used in the compilation of this List entry but are added here as a guide for further reading, 27 January 2017.