Stotfold War Memorial

The memorial stands just inside the entrance to the cemetery on Mill Lane, to the south-west of the mortuary chapel. Built of a dark polished granite, it comprises a tall, square, obelisk rising from a square plinth with a narrow cornice. The plinth stands on a two-stage, square, base.

The principal dedicatory inscription on the front face of the plinth reads ERECTED BY THE/ PARISHIONERS TO THE GLORY/ OF GOD AND THE GRATEFUL/ MEMORY OF THOSE STOTFOLD/ SOLDIERS AND SAILORS/ WHOSE NAMES ARE INSCRIBED/ ON THIS MONUMENT AND WHO/ IN RESPONSE TO THEIR/ COUNTRY’S CALL, GAVE THEIR/ LIVES IN THE GREAT WAR/ 1914 – 1918./ AND/ 1939 – 1945. An inscription on the front face of the upper stage of the base reads “GREATER LOVE HATH NO MAN THAN/ THIS THAT A MAN LAY DOWN HIS LIFE/ FOR HIS FRIENDS.”

The names of those who fell in the First World War are recorded on the other faces of the plinth and on the upper stage of the base. In addition the lower stage of the base reads 1939 – 1945, with the names of those 13 who died in the Second World War recorded below. The inscriptions are made with gilded metal lettering attached to the stone surfaces.

This List entry has been amended to add the source for War Memorials Online. This source was not used in the compilation of this List entry but is added here as a guide for further reading, 16 January 2017.