Northampton Borough War Memorial

First World War memorial by Sir John Brown, of Brown and Henson. Erected in 1936. Names of the Fallen in later wars added after 1945.

MATERIALS: Brick and tile.

DESCRIPTION: The memorial comprises a large concave brick wall, with a colonnaded walkway along its western face. The colonnade is formed from a flat roofed brick structure, with six moderne tiled columns along the front. The rear wall of the walkway contains the Roll of Honour above two bench seats separated by a grey, altar-like stone. The walkway is closed by a series of iron barred panels, each decorated with three gilt wreaths. The central panel contains a gate, affording access to the walkway, and the inside is lit by five circular light wells, each containing a number of circular glass blocks.

The central panel on the rear wall is inscribed COUNTY BOROUGH OF NORTHAMPTON, above the crest of Northampton, a castle flanked by two lions on a red field with the motto CASTELLO FORTIOR CONCORDIA. Below this, the words HEREON ARE INSCRIBED THE NAMES OF / THE CITIZENS OF THIS BOROUGH / WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES DURING THE / GREAT WAR 1914 – 1918 / THIS MEMORIAL WAS ERECTED DURING / THE CORONATION YEAR OF HIS MAJESTY / KING GEORGE VI / LEST WE FORGET are inscribed. The grey, altar-like stone beneath carries the inscription: THEY SHALL GROW NOT OLD AS WE THAT ARE LEFT GROW OLD / AGE SHALL NOT WEARY THEM NOR THE YEARS CONDEMN / AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN AND IN THE MORNING / WE WILL REMEMBER THEM / LAURENCE BINYON // THE NORTHAMPTON BRANCH OF THE BRITISH LEGION / AND THEIR FRIENDS BORE THE COST OF THE PANELS / AND OF INSCRIBING THE NAMES THEREON. The names of those who died in the First World War are carried on stone tablets to either side. Panels with the names of those who have fallen in later conflicts have been added.

The memorial sits opposite the Edgar Mobbs war memorial. This was the subject of a separate assessment (National Heritage List 1447457, Grade II*). Both memorials form the eastern edge of a triangular public garden.