Brighton War Memorial

The Brighton War Memorial, dating to 1922 and designed by John W Simpson, commemorates the men and women of Brighton who died in the First World War. It is constructed from Portland stone with bronze elements and is given group value as a significant local monument. The memorial is conceived as a Roman water garden, composed of three distinct areas: a shallow pool with a fountain, a screen of columns incorporating a small shrine, and two bronze pylons at the north-west and north-east corners of the screen. The style is simplified Classical.

The pool is roughly square, with chamfered corners at the south-west and south-east and re-entrant angles at the other corners. Viewed from the south, the screen features a domed centrepiece displaying a panel listing the various seas and regions where Brighton soldiers served, including the High Seas, North Seas, France, Flanders, Palestine, and Mesopotamia. Above the panel is the coat of arms of the borough of Brighton. The screen is structured with three bays on either side of the centrepiece, characterised by square columns with incised vertical lines on their upper sections; these columns support an entablature. Corner wings, formed by four columns on a square plan, create the re-entrant angles of the pool. From the north, the centrepiece is open below the dome, flanked by columns that enclose an altar and a bronze plaque detailing the memorial’s purpose. Each of the two bronze pylons is inscribed with the names of the 2,597 men and 3 women of Brighton who lost their lives in the war.