Hertford War Memorial Including Raised Elliptical Surround

HERTFORD

TL3212NE PARLIAMENT SQUARE 817-1/17/163 Hertford War Memorial including raised elliptical surround

II

War Memorial and raised surround. 1920-21. Architect Sir Aston Webb, Sculptor Alfred Drury. Portland stone with bronze sculpture. Truncated obelisk form, set on base with raised curb surround, and inclined slabs, inscribed with the names of the dead. Plinth, recessed course and band, projecting quadrant band, and pulvinated frieze carved with bay leaves and tassels, set between bands with cavetto moulding. The long east and west sides have carved Roman capital inscriptions 'Laus Deo', 'To the Men of Hertford who gave their lives in the Great War 1914-1919' with 'And in the Second World War 1939-1945' added beneath. Near the top of the east and west sides are carved laurel wreaths surmounted by crowns, with inset dates '1914' and '1919'. At the top, a set back band which forms a plinth for the life-size sculpture of a hart, which faces north. The Memorial is in the centre of Parliament Square, and is set on a raised elliptical Portland stone surround, with four sets of steps, flanked by battered-profile piers, each with a recessed top and ball finials. Raised tablets inscribed with the names of the dead of the Second World War are set in front of the 2 principal faces of the Memorial. HISTORICAL NOTE: Parliament Square was created after the First World War by clearance of shops and cottages which occupied the centre. The site was given by Sir Edward and Lady Pearson. The stone came from the same quarry as for The Cenotaph, Whitehall, and the contractor was Andrews of Hertford. The Memorial was unveiled by the Mayor of Hertford, Alderman J Burnett-Smith, on 6 November 1921. (The Buildings of England: Pevsner N: Hertfordshire: Harmondsworth: 1977-: 189; Mrs Head, letter, 26/08/62; Hertfordshire Countryside: Letchworth: 1960-: 160).

Listing NGR: TL3260012536

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, 12 January 2017.