Basingstoke War Memorial

The war memorial stands in a small square on Basingstoke’s Civic campus with Goldings (Grade II-listed) to the west side. Built in Portland stone, it comprises a substantial plyon surmounted by a tall figure of Victory.

The memorial stands on a broad circular four-stepped platform. Each corner of the platform is marked by a low pedestal, square on plan, in the form of intersecting barrels and with Latin crosses carved in low relief on the exterior faces. The base of the plyon is square on plan, each face of which is inscribed 1939 – 1945 with a rectangular bronze plaque below recording the commemorated names of the Second World War fallen. Non-canonical pilasters with plain plinths and capitals on each face of the plyon carry a blank entablature. The pylon is surmounted by round-headed pediments to each side, and a two-stage octagonal drum bearing a bronze hemisphere on which stands the figure of Victory. She flies forward, carrying a wreath in her right hand and an olive branch in her left.

In the tympanum of the front pediment the arms of the borough are displayed on a bronze plaque mounted on a stone shield. Below, the entablature carries the dedication IN MEMORIAM in metal lettering. The front face of the pylon is ornamented with a Latin cross and plinth, carved in low relief: on this plinth are the dates AD/ 1914 1918/ 1939 1945, also in metal lettering. Large bronze panels are fixed to the other three sides of the plyon, below the dates 1914 – 1918, recording the names of the fallen of the First World War.

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 December 2016.