Birkenhead War Memorial (including flagpoles to north and south)

The Birkenhead War Memorial stands within Hamilton Square, created when the town’s grid plan was laid out. Constructed from Portland stone with Westmorland green slate relief figures and name panels, it commemorates those who died in both World Wars. The memorial takes the form of a pylon, supported on a moulded pedestal and plinth, and stands on a three-tier stepped platform. It is crowned with a sarcophagus on a scrolled base. The memorial is set within a paved area enclosed by granite kerbs.

The east and west sides, the longer faces, feature polished green stone slabs carved with the names of 1,293 individuals who lost their lives, each name set within a projecting frame beneath an entablature with a festooned frieze. Emblems of the Royal Navy, Army, Royal Air Force and Mercantile Marine are carved into the pedestal below. Inscriptions are carved above the cornice: on the east side, "IN MEMORY OF THE MEN OF BIRKENHEAD / WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES IN THE GREAT WAR," and on the west side, "ALL THESE WERE HONOURED IN THEIR GENERATIONS / AND WERE THE GLORY OF THEIR TIMES (Ecclesiasticus 44:7)." The east side of the pedestal’s base is inscribed with: 1939 – 1945 WAR/ THE BOOK OF REMEMBRANCE MAY BE INSPECTED IN THE TOWN HALL.

The shorter north and south faces feature carved, stylised female figures in Egyptian dress. The figure on the north face displays a plaque carved with the words "HE DIED FOR FREEDOM AND HONOUR," while the figure on the south face holds a laurel wreath and a palm branch. These figures are set within pilastered surrounds with entablatures mirroring those on the longer sides.

The parapets feature carved oval escutcheons inset with the borough arms, flanked by the years 1939 and 1945. Scroll and festoon ornament is inset into the re-entrant angles of the pedestal. Polished green slate slabs with further names are carved into the fronts of the pedestal.

The shafts of two cast-iron flagpoles have heavy, moulded bases with festoon ornament. They stand on octagonal stone bases carved with inset panels, and rest on a stepped plinth, forming an integrated part of the memorial’s design.