Stony Stratford War Memorial Cross

The approximately 6m tall Doulting stone war memorial stands in a Garden of Remembrance on Horsefair Green, in close proximity to numerous Grade II-listed buildings and the Grade II*-listed Burnham House. It takes the form of a foliated and raguly cross-head rising from the moulded collar of a tapering cross shaft, octagonal in section. The front face of the cross-head carried a small bronze reversed sword. The shaft transitions into a broader stem, square on plan, with a moulded foot. That stands on the capped pedestal. The pedestal stands on a four-stepped, octagonal, base.

The front face of the cross stem is ornamented with a shield bearing a cross, carved in low relief. Below this a bronze plaque is let into the stonework, recording 46 First World War names. A similar plaque on the other side records the other 46 names.

The edges of the front and rear faces of the pedestal are formed into engaged columns, that flank bronze plaques. The principal dedicatory inscription to the north-east of these plaques reads + TO THE GLORY/ OF GOD./ IN GRATEFUL MEMORY/ OF THOSE OF THIS TOWN/ WHO FELL IN/ THE GREAT WAR/ 1914-1918. The south-west plaque reads ALSO/ IN MEMORY OF/ (18 NAMES)/ WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES/ IN THE WAR/ 1939 – 1945.