Bognor Regis and District War Memorial

MATERIALS: Cornish grey granite.

DESCRIPTION: The memorial is set back from the road on the corner of Belmont Street and Clarence Road, in front of Bognor Regis Town Hall (Grade II-listed). The memorial comprises a tall pillar, rectangular on plan, capped with a decorated entablature. The pillar stands on a plinth that is raised on a three-stepped base.

Four margents appear to hang from the entablature, one at each corner of the pillar. A wreath carved in low relief on the front of the pillar encloses the dates 1914/ 1918. Below this an inscription reads TO THE MEMORY OF THE/ GLORIOUS DEAD/ OF BOGNOR & DISTRICT/ 1939/ 1945.

On the front face of the plinth an inscription reads “SONS OF THIS PLACE LET THIS OF YOU BE SAID/ THAT YOU WHO LIVE ARE WORTHY OF YOUR DEAD/ THESE GAVE THEIR LIVES THAT YOU WHO LIVE MAY REAP/ A RICHER HARVEST ERE YOU FALL ASLEEP.”. This is taken from Reverend Royds’ ‘Inscriptions Suggested for War Memorials’. A small bronze plaque is attached to the uppermost step of the base, reading THE NAMES OF THOSE WHOSE MEMORY IS/ HERE COMMEMORATED WILL BE FOUND ON THE/ TABLET IN THE VESTIBULE OF THE/ WAR MEMORIAL HOSPITAL.

SUBSIDIARY FEATURES: Four small flower vases are placed one on each corner of the memorial’s bottom step. Two freestanding stone walls either side of the memorial display Welsh slate panels bearing 260 names of the fallen from the Second World War. These features are not of special interest.

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, 5 December 2016.