Kettering Cenotaph

The Kettering Cenotaph is a First World War memorial, adapted from Lutyens' Whitehall Cenotaph, situated in a small courtyard at the entrance to the Alfred East Art Gallery, bordering the Manor House Gardens. Constructed around the time that area was central Kettering, the memorial stands approximately 8 metres high and is built from limestone, likely Weldon stone, similar to that of the Alfred East Gallery. It features a tapering pylon buttressed at the corners by clasping piers, which widen into the lower section. An oversailing cornice runs around the top, above which sits a simple, block-like stone representing an empty tomb.

A two-stage stepped base provides a ledge for wreath laying. The front face, which looks onto Sheep Street, bears the inscription ‘IN MEMORY OF/ THOSE WHO/ GAVE THEIR LIVES/ IN THE/ GREAT WAR/ 1914-1919’ in raised lettering, with a carved ribbon and wreath below. A later stone has been inserted carrying the wording ‘FOR THOSE WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES/ IN THE SECOND WORLD WAR/ 1939-1945/ AND SUBSEQUENT CONFLICTS’. The right and left faces are inscribed ‘OUR/ GLORIOUS/ DEAD’, while the rear face reads ‘THEIR NAME/ LIVETH/ FOR/ EVERMORE’. Identical ribbon wreaths are carved on all three visible faces.