Bexhill War Memorial

First World War memorial with a statue of Victory designed by Louis Frederick Roslyn RBS; unveiled on 12 December 1920, with Second World War additions.

MATERIALS: Portland Stone and bronze.

DESCRIPTION: the monument stands on the seafront and forms the focal point along the central axis of Sea Road. It comprises a tall, stone obelisk with a bronze sculpture of Victory on the south face, surmounting a stone plinth with a three-stepped base. Victory is personified as a winged female figure holding a laurel wreath aloft in her left hand and a lowered sword in her right. The figure faces the sea towards the Western Front and stands in a dynamic contrapposto pose with clinging and billowing drapery further accentuating her movement. L F Roslyn’s signature can be seen at the base of the sculpture and the dates 1914-1918 are inscribed on the pedestal below. On the north, east and west faces of the obelisk there are bronze plaques recalling, in relief, the names of the fallen from the First World War, listed alphabetically by surname in order of service, regiment and rank.

The names of the fallen from the Second World War are remembered on plaques on the north, east and west faces of the plinth. On the south face, beneath a double bronze swag motif, there is a bronze plaque with the inscription: IN PROUD AND GRATEFUL MEMORY OF / THE MEN AND WOMEN OF BEXHILL WHO GAVE / THEIR LIVES IN THE FIGHT FOR FREEDOM / 1939-1945 / AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN AND IN THE MORNING / WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

The memorial is enclosed by a late-C20 low brick wall to the north, south and west which is not of special interest and is excluded from the listing.