Dudley Boer War Memorial

MATERIALS: Marble figures, granite plinth, Portland stone.

DESCRIPTION: Dudley Boer War Memorial stands in a prominent position in the north side of Dudley cemetery, overlooking Stourbridge Road. It comprises a red and grey granite plinth, square on plan, with fluted black granite Ionic reeded pilasters to each corner. The memorial is 5.5m high with a three-stage base.

Rising from the plinth’s pediment is a red granite pedestal on which stands the sculpture of a soldier holding a rifle with its bayonet fixed, in defence of an injured bugler who lies at his feet (a popular Boer War memorial motif). The figures are carved from Sicilian marble, the rifle is in Portland stone. Around the pedestal is a raised inscription which reads from the front TRANSVAAL/ CAPE COLONY/ ORANGE FREE STATE/ NATAL.

Below this inscription the decorated pediment faces are carved with a design incorporating crossed rifles and the British Colonial pattern helmet. Immediately below the pediment are dentils and a frieze of garland swags, below which a further inscription reads from the front GREATER LOVE HATH NO/ MAN THAN THIS THAT/ A MAN LAY DOWN HIS/ LIFE FOR HIS FRIENDS.

The red granite panel on the front face of the plinth is decorated with a carving of the Borough Arms, in low relief, below which the principal dedicatory inscription reads ERECTED/ BY/ PUBLIC SUBSCRIPTION/ IN MEMORY/ OF/ SOLDIERS/ OF THIS BOROUGH/ WHO FELL IN THE/ SOUTH AFRICAN/ CAMPAIGN. The other faces of the plinth carry the lists of the 56 men of the borough who fell in the war. They include those who died of wounds or sickness as well as those killed in action.

Each face of the upper stage of the base bears the dates 1899 – 1902. On the middle stage of the base, a small wreath is carved in low relief on each face. The lowest stage of the base is moulded and rusticated. The base of the memorial is enclosed by a stone kerb with eight low moulded pillars.

This List entry has been amended to add sources for War Memorials Online and the War Memorials Register. These sources were not used in the compilation of this List entry but are added here as a guide for further reading, 18 January 2017.