Aysgarth War Memorial

First World War memorial, early 1920s, with Second World War addition.

MATERIALS: rough-hewn limestone, ashlar sandstone, painted metal lamp.

PLAN: circular.

DESCRIPTION: the memorial takes the form of a pedestal surmounted by a small street lamp, supported by four decorative scrolled wrought iron struts. It was built using coursed rough-hewn limestone blocks, with an ashlar sandstone frieze, capstone and plinth; it is mounted on a single-step circular stone base, which is raised on a circular podium that has a gently inclined surface. A bronze plaque fixed to the south side of the pedestal reads: REMEMBER/ ALL WHO SHARED IN/ THE GREAT WAR/ THESE OF AYSGARTH/ GAVE THEIR LIVES/ (3 NAMES). A secondary bronze plaque on the north side reads: THIS TABLET IS ERECTED/ IN GRATEFUL THANKS FOR/ THE SAFE RETURN OF ALL/ WHO SERVED FROM THIS/ TOWNSHIP IN THE/ SECOND GREAT WAR/ 1939 – 1945. The capstone projects on a moulded cornice and is coned, with a flat upper surface for mounting the lamp; it has four semi-circular projections on the north-west to south-east, and south-west to north-east alignments. The ends of each of the four projections bears an inscribed letter, which spells out the word: THEY, when read in an anti-clockwise direction from the south-west side. The frieze is inscribed with the words: LIVE, HEARD, FELT, and DIED, when read in an anti-clockwise direction from the west face. The plinth is inscribed: 1914 .1918.