Ledbury War Memorial

The Ledbury War Memorial stands in front of the gatehouse to St Katherine’s Hospital and Almshouses and beside the Market House, at the northern end of High Street in Ledbury. Constructed around 1922 and extended in 1988, the memorial is approximately 6.5 metres tall and built of Portland stone, granite, glass mosaic, and ceramic tiles.

The memorial rises from a two-stage, lozenge-shaped base marked by a string course. The cardinal faces of the base are chamfered, forming pilasters that carry decorative panels. A shallow hexagonal step forms the base of the structure. Three pilasters on the lower stage of the base feature mosaics; an angel on the east face, a First World War soldier on the north face, and a First World War sailor on the south face. A granite plaque on the west face bears the principal inscription “TO THE/ GLORY OF GOD/ AND TO THE/ IMMORTAL MEMORY/ OF THE GALLANT MEN/ FROM THIS TOWN WHO/ GAVE THEIR LIVES FOR/ THEIR COUNTRY IN THE/ GREAT EUROPEAN WAR/ 1914 – 1919/ “GREATER LOVE HATH/ NO MAN THAN THIS”. Further granite plaques between the pilasters on the lower stage list the names of servicemen who died in the First World War.

Originally, three short broken columns stood atop the First World War memorial, but these were replaced by the upper stage, added in 1988, which follows the same plan. The eastern pilaster of the upper stage displays ceramic tiles depicting an RAF airman with a Lancaster bomber and a Spitfire in flight. A granite plaque on the western pilaster carries the Second World War dedication: “LET US REMEMBER/ BEFORE GOD THE/ MEN OF THIS PARISH/ WHO GAVE THEIR/ LIVES IN THE CAUSE/ OF FREEDOM/ 1939 – 1945”. Plaques, recording the names of the servicemen who died during the Second World War, are fixed around the upper stage. A small rectangular plaque, located below the angel mosaic, lists two additional names. All inscriptions are incised into the granite plaques and in-filled with white paint. Four small pyramidal blocks, designed as posts for a chain-link fence, are positioned at the corners of the memorial, which is surrounded by a cobbled pavement.