Cheltenham War Memorial

MATERIALS: Portland stone obelisk, stone paving and balustrade, metal lamps.

DESCRIPTION: Cheltenham war memorial is located on Promenade outside the Municipal offices within the Long Garden. It consists of a Portland stone obelisk, square on plan, rising from a large square plinth set on a three stepped base.

The plinth has a raised carving of the Borough coat of arms on its west face and bears the incised inscriptions of the names of the fallen from the First World War on the other three sides. On the east face of the obelisk is a wreath encircling the hilt of a reversed sword, carved in relief, with the dates 1914 1919 either side of the blade. Immediately below this is the incised dedication which reads REMEMBER THE MEN OF CHELTENHAM/ WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES FOR YOU IN THE GREAT WAR./ IF THEY WERE STRANGERS TO ONE ANOTHER HERE IN THEIR COMMON HOME, THEY/ SERVED AND WROUGHT AND DIED IN MANY LANDS NEAR AND FAR AS A BAND OF/ BROTHERS. LEARN FROM THEM SO AS TO LIVE AND DIE THAT, WHEN YOU HAVE FOLLOWED/ THEM AND ARE NO MORE SEEN, YOU MAY, LIKE THEM, BE REMEMBERED AND REGRETTED.

SUBSIDIARY FEATURES: The memorial stands within a paved area (laid out as a square at the centre of the Promenade gardens with apsidal walls to north and south by 1903), enclosed by stone balustrades with lamps and urns. To the east of the memorial a later stone wall with end piers, inserted to the balustrading, carries metal plaques bearing the names of the fallen from subsequent conflicts.

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, 10 January 2017.