Delabole War Memorial

A First World War memorial, unveiled 1922; altered after the Second World War.

MATERIALS: Granite.

DESCRIPTION: The memorial takes the form of a Cross of Sacrifice, with a relief-carved sword superimposed on the arms and shaft of a Celtic Cross. The cross stands on a tapering rough-hewn plinth, on a two-stepped platform surrounded by paving. The principal (east) face of the plinth is inscribed IN MEMORY OF DELABOLE MEN / WHO DIED FOR / GOD, KING AND COUNTRY / IN THE GREAT WAR / 1914 – 1918, followed in lead lettering by the names of the 31 men who were lost in that War. A granite slab was added to the steps of the memorial after the Second World War, inscribed with the names of the nine men who fell in that conflict, under the dates 1939 – 1945.

The war memorial stands in an enclosed memorial park, in the heart of Delabole, raised above the main road. The park was built for the unveiling of the memorial, and has since been added to with various memorial plaques, including the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the First World War, and a Millennium clock tower on the road edge.