Oakenshaw-cum-Woodlands War Memorial

First World War memorial, 1920, by Messrs Wright and Son of Bradford, with additions for later conflicts.

MATERIALS: granite figurative monument, with a sandstone and concrete stepped base.

PLAN: square-plan monument, within a crescent-plan stone curb surround.

DESCRIPTION: the memorial comprises an accurate, but slightly smaller than life-size carved figure of an infantryman wearing a soft cap and greatcoat, his head bowed, with his hands resting on the butt of his Lee-Enfield rifle; its muzzle is placed on his left foot. The figure stands on a shallow square base, mounted on a granite pedestal, with a carved moulded cornice, on a two-tier plinth, which is mounted on a two-stepped base. The north-east panel of the pedestal bears a dedication in lead lettering that reads: TO THE GLORY OF GOD/ IN GRATEFUL REMEMBRANCE OF/ THE SERVICES AND SACRIFICES RENDERED/ BY THE MEN OF OAKENSHAW-CUM-WOODLANDS,/ IN THE GREAT WAR/ 1914 – 1919./ THIS MEMORIAL WAS ERECTED BY PUBLIC SUBSCRIPTION/ AND WAS UNVEILED ON/ DECEMBER 18TH 1920./ “GIVE PEACE TO THOSE WHO/ BROUGHT US PEACE.” The names of the 46 First World War fallen are recorded on the north-west and south-east panels of the pedestal. The north-east face of the top step of the plinth reads: WITH THEM ALSO ARE REMEMBERED/ THE MEN OF THE WORLD WAR/ 1939 – 1945. The face of the lower step of the plinth, lists the names of the six men who died in the Second World War, along with one individual who was killed in Aden in 1967. The memorial stands within a crescent-plan stone curb surround that contains a flower bed.