Caversham War Memorial

The memorial takes the form of an octagonal stone column, or obelisk, slightly elongated in section, set on an octagonal plinth with two steps at the base. The shorter pairs of sides on the main shaft become convex as they rise upwards and the shaft terminates in a fluted band. Above, the column steps in, its face is carved with a Latin cross in shallow relief, and terminates in a pyramidal cap. One face of the column is carved with the names of the 260 fallen of the First World War, with the inscription: 1914-1918 / TO THE GLORY / OF GOD.

On the face of the plinth below is the following inscription:

THEY WHOM THIS MEMORIAL/ COMMEMORATES WERE NUMBERED AMONG/ THOSE WHO AT THE CALL OF KING AND/ COUNTRY. LEFT ALL THAT WAS DEAR TO/ THEM. ENDURED HARDSHIP. FACED DANGER/ AND FINALLY PASSED OUT OF THE SIGHT/ OF MEN BY THE PATH OF DUTY AND SELF/ SACRIFICE. GIVING UP THEIR OWN LIVES/ THAT OTHERS MIGHT LIVE IN FREEDOM/ LET THOSE THAT COME AFTER SEE TO IT/ THAT THEIR NAMES BE NOT FORGOTTEN/ 1939 - 1945

On each of the other five faces of the plinth are later stone tablets with the names of those who lost their lives in the Second World War - both civilians (nine names) and servicemen (173 names) - and a single name for the Afghanistan conflict of 2001-2014.

The memorial stands on a hexagonal area of 'crazy' paving, a paving technique which became popular in the inter-war period.

This List entry has been amended to add sources for War Memorials Online and the War Memorials Register. These sources were not used in the compilation of this List entry but are added here as a guide for further reading, 6 June 2017.