Fordington German Prisoners of War Memorial

First World War memorial to German prisoners of war. Erected 1919.

MATERIALS: Portland stone panel, stone rubble walls and wrought-iron crosses.

DESCRIPTION: the war memorial is built into a bank on a hillside in Fordington Cemetery and faces north. It is rectangular in plan, 1.8m high, 3m wide and 2m deep. The memorial comprises a carved Portland stone panel of a German soldier, framed by two wrought-iron crosses, all set in an alcove within a coursed and random rubble wall. The panel stands on a plinth and has a moulded cornice and set-back tooled outer edges. At the centre is the carved figure of the soldier, shown in uniform; helmet, trench coat and boots, kneeling, with head bowed and hands clasping an upright rifle. Beneath is the inscription: HIER RUHEN DEUTSCHE KRIEGER IN/ FREMDER ERDE DOCH UNVERGESSEN/ 1914 DORCHESTER 1919 (Translated: ‘Here rest German soldiers in foreign soil yet unforgotten’). The two crosses stand on a step within recesses. They are painted black and detailed in gold. The surrounding wall rises in two tiers on each side of the alcove; the bottom tier projecting out from the main face of the wall and capped with ashlar coping stones. Two corbels are set high in the wall on either side of the alcove. The monument rests on a random rubble and concrete foundation.

This list entry was subject to a Minor Amendment on 02/07/2018 This List entry has been amended to add the source for War Memorials Online. This source was not used in the compilation of this List entry but is added here as a guide for further reading, 7 December 2016.