War Memorial

War memorial, 1921, designed by Charles Heaton Comyn FRIBA of Orpington and built by Messrs Farmer and Brindley of Westminster Bridge Road, London. The memorial commemorates the residents of Orpington District Council Area who died in the First World War and records the names of 111 local men. It was unveiled on Sunday 28 August 1921.

The memorial is constructed of Portland stone with cast iron sculptures. It consists of a triangular column approximately 5 metres high and 13.7 metres in diameter, standing on a separate shallow pentagonal base. The column measures about 2 metres at the base and tapers slightly to a small pointed peak at the top. At each corner are short, square columns about 1 metre high projecting from the main structure, each surmounted by a cast iron lion sculpture by Messrs Thomas Elsley & Co. of Great Titchfield Street, London. Each side has the names of the fallen inscribed in the lower sections.

The principal elevation, facing east into the roundabout, bears the dedication: "Pro Patria / (Names) / in memory of the / men of Orpington / who laid down their / lives in the / Great War 1914-1918". The summit of this principal side is engraved with the Horse Rampant, the Kent county symbol, while the other sides have a simple cross.

Following a campaign in 1997-98, a second unveiling took place on Sunday 1st August 1999 to commemorate armed forces personnel who fell in the Second World War and subsequent conflicts. The side facing the high street (north) bears a plaque reading: "Orpington Urban District / to the memory of those in the / services and the residents of this / district who died in the World War / 1939-1945". Eight additional plaques were placed around the circular space in 1999, unveiled by the Lord Imbert, QPM, JP, Her Majesty's Lord Lieutenant of Greater London.