Beccles War Memorial

This First World War memorial was unveiled and dedicated in 1921, with later additions to commemorate the Second World War and subsequent conflicts. Designed by Gerald Cogswell of London and constructed by HA King of Beccles, it is located in a prominent roadside position at the junction of St Mary's Road and Priory Road, approximately 108 metres northwest of Beccles and District War Memorial Hospital.

The memorial is built from Portland stone and stands 7 metres high. It features a small, decorated Latin cross placed on top of a tall, tapering, octagonal shaft. The northwest (front) face of the shaft is carved with a wreath containing an IHS Christogram. The shaft is supported by a tall, square plinth inscribed with the names of those who fell in the First World War, separated by service and regiment and listed by rank. This plinth sits on a two-stepped square base, which in turn rests on a larger octagonal base intended to serve as a bench seat and featuring a chamfered top, stone quoins and knapped flint and dressed stone infill.

The top of the plinth bears a dedicatory inscription reading: “IN HONOUR OF THE MEN OF (northwest) // BECCLES - WHO GAVE THEIR (southwest) // LIVES FOR THEIR COUNTRY (southeast) // IN THE GREAT WAR 1914 - 1918 (northeast)". Subsequent inscriptions have been added to the faces of the octagonal base. The northwest face commemorates those who died in the Second World War (1939-1945) and later conflicts, with the north and west faces listing the associated names. The names of individuals who died in the Korean and Afghanistan Wars are inscribed on the west and southwest faces respectively.

The memorial is set within an octagonal area of gravel, with eight flagstone paths leading to each face of the base.