County of Kent War Memorial Cross

The Portland stone memorial stands in the Memorial Garden to the east of Christchurch Cathedral (Grade I-listed), within the scheduled City Walls. The c6m tall memorial cross comprises Sir Herbert Baker’s Ypres Cross, or Cross of Lorraine, design: a wheel-head cross rising from a short-armed Latin cross on an octagonal shaft. The circlet of the wheel-head is formed by roses and lilies (representing England and France) that trail down the shaft. A warship with billowing sails is carved at the centre of the Latin cross to the east face, and a reversed sword is carved on the west face of the octagonal cross shaft.

The cross shaft ends in a moulded foot, standing on a drum-like plinth, octagonal in plan and with a shallow circular head. The plinth stands on a three-stepped base, the upper step being much deeper than the two lower. The whole stands on an octagonal pavement at the centre of the memorial garden. It is approached by paved paths that divide the garden lawns into quadrants.

The principal dedicatory inscription is carved in relief around the circular head of the plinth, reading TO THE SACRED MEMORY OF THE SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF KENT WHO DIED IN THE GREAT WAR 1914-1919.

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.