Halesworth War Memorial Obelisk

The approximately 4.5m tall Aberdeen granite memorial stands in a prominent position within a small memorial garden known as The Arboretum, beside the north-eastern entrance to the churchyard of the Church of St Mary the Virgin (Grade II*). It is close to numerous listed buildings in the town centre including 1 Market Place (Grade II).

The memorial comprises an obelisk rising from a slightly tapering corniced pedestal. The pedestal has a two-stage base. The lower stage is of a different stone and stands on a three-stepped base, square on plan. The principal dedicatory inscription in applied metal lettering to the north-east face of the pedestal reads IN HONOUR OF THE MEN/ OF HALESWORTH/ WHO FELL IN THE/ GREAT WAR/ 1914–1918. Each of the three other faces of the pedestal is inscribed IN MEMORIAM/ (NAMES).

A further inscription to the front face of the pedestal’s upper base stage reads “GREATER LOVE HATH NO MAN THAN THIS”/ 1939 – 1945. The names of those who died in the Second World War are inscribed on two other faces with, to the fourth, “LEST WE FORGET”/ CIVILIANS KILLED BY ENEMY ACTION/ (3 NAMES).