Bradninch War Memorial

The tall Dartmoor granite memorial stands in the forecourt of the town Guildhall (Grade II-listed). It takes the form of a wheel-head cross in the Celtic style, standing on a plinth and three-stepped octagonal base. The arms of the wheel-head cross are ornamented with interlace knots and a central hemispherical boss. A small shield bearing the town’s heraldic device, a spread eagle, decorates the foot of the cross shaft.

The principal dedicatory inscription to the front face of the tapering plinth reads: FAITHFUL TO KING AND COUNTRY./ TO THE HONOURED MEMORY/ OF THE MEN OF BRADNINCH/ WHO LAID DOWN THEIR LIVES/ IN THE GREAT WAR/ 1914 – 1919./ "BECAUSE YOU LIVE, THOUGH OUT OF SIGHT, AND REACH,/ I WILL, SO HELP ME GOD, GIVE BRAVELY TOO". The commemorated First World War names are listed on the plinth sides.

A later dedication on the front face of the uppermost step reads: ALSO OF THOSE/ WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES/ IN THE WAR 1939 - 1945, with the Second World War names recorded on other faces of this step. Below, on the front face of the middle step, an inscription reads: WAR IN KOREA/ (1 NAME).