Ashford War Memorial And Ornamental Gates To Garden Of Remembrance

War memorial and memorial gates, 1924, with Second World War additions.

The monument is constructed in Chilmark Portland Stone and consists of a tall octagonal-sectioned Latin cross mounted above a square-section pedestal of roughly equal height. The pedestal is topped by a wide moulding and has bevelled corners framing bronze tablets containing the names of the fallen in relief, arranged in double columns. The lower part of the pedestal features inlaid plaques on each of its four faces. The main west-facing plaque reads 'They gave their lives in war that we in peace might live'. The east-facing plaque is of modern date and reads 'In memory of those who gave their lives in all conflicts throughout the world'. The remaining two plaques are blank. At the centre of the cross is a roundel carved in relief, displaying '1914' on the west face and '1918' on the reverse.

The monument stands on a large octagonal base of three low steps, surrounded by low ornamental walls of Kentish Ragstone topped with Portland stone caps on the sides facing the corners of the pedestal. Bronze plaques containing the names of the Second World War dead are affixed to the outer faces of these walls, with five plaques per wall, each surmounted by a small oblong plaque bearing the date '1939-1945'. The plaques distinguish between service personnel and civilians. Among those named on the First World War memorial is Sergeant Harry Wells, 2nd Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment, who was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross at the Battle of Loos in 1915.

At the entrance to the memorial park, facing the west side of the memorial, stand ornate wrought iron gates of remembrance. The central carriage gates hang from wrought iron gate piers surmounted by small urns surrounded by tracery, and are flanked by pedestrian gates. The main gates are divided from outer plain masonry piers by these side gates. The central carriage gates incorporate four stylised wreaths, the upper two containing the dates '1914' and '1918' and the lower '1939' and '1945', all picked out in gold. The Second World War dates were added later, though the gates are contemporary with the memorial, as demonstrated by their appearance in a photograph taken at the unveiling.

The memorial was inaugurated on 1 June 1924 by General Sir Ian Hamilton, commander of the British Mediterranean Expeditionary Force at Gallipoli, who was highly active in creating and unveiling memorials to the First World War dead. Designed by local architect Edwin A Jackson in 1922, the memorial was built in the centre of a memorial garden on land purchased from the Ecclesiastical Commissioners in 1923. The land, memorial and wrought iron gates were funded by public subscription, which by 1924 had raised over £10,000. The names of 250 of the fallen were initially inscribed on the memorial. Following the Second World War, further names, including those of civilians, were added on plaques affixed to the low walls surrounding the memorial.