Olney War Memorial

The Olney War Memorial is a Grade II-listed structure made of Derbyshire stone, located at the northern end of the Market Place, surrounded by several other Grade II-listed buildings, as well as the Grade II*-listed Gilpin House, Orchard Side, Cowper House, and Newton Museum. The memorial features a column approximately 6 meters tall, square in shape, which rises from a pedestal and a two-stepped base.

The column is decorated with wreaths carved in low relief on each face near its base, and a narrow band of laurel leaves and ribbons towards the top. The pedestal tapers down to the foot of the column. Inscriptions are incised on the faces of the pedestal and on the upper stage of the pedestal’s foot.

The main dedicatory inscription on the front (north) face of the pedestal reads: "TO THE GLORY OF GOD/ AND IN MEMORY OF THE MEN/ FROM THIS TOWN/ WHO FELL IN THE GREAT WAR/ 1914 – 1919./ 'THEIR NAME LIVETH FOR EVERMORE'" and below it, "IN TOKEN OF SORROW FOR THEIR LOSS,/ OF PRIDE IN THEIR VALOUR./ 1939 – 1945." The names of those who served in the First World War are listed in inset panels on the other three faces, while the names from the Second World War are recorded on the upper stage of the pedestal’s foot.