Marlow War Memorial

First World War memorial, with additions following the Second World War, designed by T Hansford-White and W Henry Wright, 1920.

MATERIALS: Portland stone.

DESCRIPTION: the memorial is located at the northern end of the green between High Street and The Causeway. It is a tapering cross standing approximately six meters high, with a bronze victory wreath at the junction of the arms; bronze sprays of laurel adorn the lower three feet of the edges of the shaft. It stands upon a moulded and inscribed square-plan plinth, base, and two steps with quadrant cut corners, on an octagonal platform. There are moulded tapered pillars at each angle of the octagon with iron chains enclosing the memorial. Three steps on the north lead down to a stone-paved path to the road. The path is enclosed by chain fencing supported by metal posts and a pair of metal gates.

The front (north) face of the plinth is inscribed with the following, in inset leaded lettering in a plaza-style pre-Deco font: ‘IN GRATEFUL AND / HONOURED MEMORY / OF THE / TWO HUNDRED & FIFTEEN/ MEN OF MARLOW / WHO MADE THE / SUPREME SACRIFICE / IN THE / GREAT WAR / 1914-1919’. Beneath, on the base: ‘AND OF THOSE WHO FELL / IN THE / SECOND WORLD WAR / 1939-1945’.

On the east face: ‘THE NAMES OF THE / OFFICERS, NCOs & MEN / OF THE / ROYAL NAVY / THE ARMY / AND THE / ROYAL AIR FORCE / COMMEMORATED / BY THIS CROSS / ARE RECORDED ON / THE WALLS OF THE / PARISH CHURCH’.

On the west face is a dedication by the Reverend TF Royds: ‘"SONS OF THIS PLACE, / LET THIS OF YOU BE SAID, / THAT YOU WHO LIVE / ARE WORTHY OF YOUR DEAD. / THESE GAVE THEIR LIVES / THAT YOU WHO LIVE MAY REAP / A RICHER HARVEST / ERE YOU FALL ASLEEP" / TFR’.

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, 11 January 2017.