War Memorial In Front Of Church Of St Alphege

War Memorial in front of Church of St Alphege

This war memorial commemorates the dead of the First and Second World Wars and the Korean War. It was erected in 1921 and designed by the noted Birmingham architect W H Bidlake. The monument adapts the form of an Eleanor cross and is constructed of Portland stone with rectangular bronze tablets bearing the names of the fallen.

The memorial stands on an octagonal platform with York stone paving and granite kerbs, which supports an octagonal granite plinth with five steps. The octagonal shaft is divided into four stages. The lowest stage features alternating bronze tablets bearing the names of the fallen from the First World War in relief, arranged according to the service to which they belonged. Between these tablets are stone panels carved with representations of servicemen and women in relief: an airman, a marine, an infantryman and a nurse. On the north face is a dedicatory inscription reading: "1914-1918 / IN ETERNAL REMEMBRANCE OF / THE MEN OF SOLIHULL WHO / WENT FORTH AT THE CALL OF / KING AND COUNTRY TO FIGHT / IN THE GREAT WAR. MANFULLY / THEY FACED HARDSHIP, DANGER, DEATH ITSELF, IN THE CAUSE OF LIBERTY. THE NAMES OF THOSE WHO RETURNED NOT / AGAIN ARE HERE INSCRIBED. / THEIR BODIES ARE BURIED / IN PEACE AND THEIR NAME / LIVETH UNTO GENERATION AND GENERATION".

The upper body has panels bearing the names of the dead from the Second World War and the Korean War. Above this is a stage with panels of blind tracery with crocketed gablets, which supports a stage with open tracery. This in turn supports the finial cross at the apex.

The memorial was unveiled by the Earl of Craven and dedicated by the Bishop of Birmingham on 19 June 1921. The names of those fallen in the Second World War and the Korean War of 1950-53 were subsequently added. Although Ordnance Survey maps show the monument in its original position, the road layout has since changed. The memorial, which originally stood on a small traffic island, now forms part of the wide pavement in front of the Church of St Alphege.