War Memorial on South Side of Arboretum

The war memorial, located on the south side of the Arboretum in Nottingham, was constructed between 1862 and 1863 by M Ogle Tarbotton, the Borough Engineer. It is made of ashlar and features a rectangular platform made of pink sandstone, measuring approximately 10 meters by 5 meters, which rests on a stepped ashlar plinth. The platform is adorned with inscriptions, some of which are partly illegible, and at each corner, there is a cannon mounted on a stone base.

In the center of the platform stands an octagonal cupola designed in the Chinese style, topped with a swept octagonal spire. The cupola is supported by round columns with traceried brackets, and the frieze includes inscriptions in both Chinese and Russian. Historically, the cupola originally housed a bell that was looted by British troops from a temple in Canton during the Anglo-Chinese War of 1857-61; this bell was removed to the regimental museum in 1956.

Two of the cannons were captured at Sebastopol during the Crimean War from 1854 to 1855, while the other two are replicas made around 1862. The memorial commemorates the involvement of the 59th/2nd Nottinghamshire Regiment of Foot in these conflicts, with the trophies presented by Lieutenant Colonel Burmester in 1857. This memorial is notable for commemorating two campaigns and dates from a time when the names of those who were killed were not recorded.