Wagoners' Memorial

The Wagoners' Memorial is a war memorial erected in 1919–20 to commemorate the service of the Waggoners' Reserve, a corps of one thousand farm drivers raised from Yorkshire Wold farms in 1912 by Lieutenant Colonel Sir Mark Sykes, 6th Baronet, Member of Parliament. The memorial was designed by Sir Mark Sykes and built by mason Alfred Barr, foreman Thomas Scott, and sculptor Carlo Magnoni.

The memorial stands on the western side of Sledmere village, a little to the north of the gateway to the Church of St Mary. It is constructed of ashlar Portland stone with carved stone effigies and rises 6 metres high. The structure is raised on an octagonal plinth of five steps with a chamfered base and top step, surrounded by octagonal stone paving.

The memorial consists of a squat central carved drum beneath a conical canopy with carved fish scale slates, surmounted by a pinnacle that once held a cross. Four elaborately carved columns support an entablature; each column is decorated with a different geometric pattern and capitals featuring intertwined foliate and floral designs with farm animal heads at the corners. The entablature has a square patterned cornice with octagonal finials crowned by a coronet rising above each column. The frieze bears an inscription crediting the designer, patrons, and craftsmen.

The central drum is divided horizontally into three sections by stone bands, with detailed scenes carved in relief. These depict the enrolment of the men by Captain Sykes of the Army Service Corps; a wagoner driving a load of sacks; the course of the annual wagon driving competition held in Fimber Field; reservists working harvest fields; receiving call-up papers from a postman; saying farewell to family; walking to join the colours and being kitted out; troop transport ships crossing a mined English Channel; disembarkation in France; German soldiers committing atrocities; British soldiers confronting German infantrymen; and wagoners loading artillery shells and small arms ammunition under bombardment on the road to Amiens and the Battle of the Marne.

A five-verse poem in local dialect, composed by Sir Mark Sykes, is also inscribed on the central drum in freehand script within a curvilinear panel, with each verse separated by engaged columns decorated with different geometric and foliate patterns. The poem recounts the recruitment of the men, their departure from the Yorkshire Wolds, their overseas service, the sacrifice of those who were wounded or died, and their legacy for future generations.