Watford Peace Memorial

The Watford Peace Memorial is a First World War memorial with an additional inscription for the Second World War, originally erected in 1928. It features bronze sculptures by Mary Pownall Bromet, cast by Morris Singer and Co. Ltd.

The memorial is located at The Parade, outside Watford Town Hall, in an open paved area on a sloping three-stepped paved base. It consists of a Portland stone stepped plinth formed from a semicircular low wall and three pedestals that support three bronze male nude sculptures. The plinth is approximately 1.3 meters high at the central section, 1.1 meters deep, and 4.7 meters wide.

The southern statue, dated 1914, depicts a seated male leaning on his left knee with his head bent, representing a mourner. It is about 1.5 meters high and has a base measuring approximately 0.7 meters by 0.7 meters. The central figure is a proudly standing male, wearing a fig leaf, with his right arm raised and head slightly tilted back. This figure stands about 2.4 meters high on a base that is approximately 0.7 meters wide and 0.9 meters deep. The northern figure, dated 1916, is another seated figure with opened hands coming forward over his right knee, representing a blinded man. It stands about 1.6 meters high on a base measuring approximately 0.7 meters by 0.7 meters. All figures are signed ‘Mary Pownall Bromet’ and were cast by Morris Singer & Co. Ltd.

The memorial does not bear any names but features inscriptions below each figure: "TO THE FALLEN" below the southern figure, "TO THE WOUNDED" below the northern figure, and "VICTORY / 1914 – 1918 / 1939 – 1945" beneath the central figure. Additionally, relief carved wreaths are present on the flanking low walls.

A stone tablet at the base of the memorial in front of the central figure, presumably added after the Second World War, reads: "AND IN REMEMBRANCE OF / ALL OTHER CITIZENS OF THIS BOROUGH / BOTH MILITARY AND CIVILIAN / WHO HAVE GIVEN THEIR LIVES / IN THE SERVICE OF HUMANITY."