Cumberland and Westmorland Joint Counties’ War Memorial

War memorial. Erected in 1921-22, following the First World War, to the design of the architect Sir Robert Lorimer by the contractor John Laing and Son Ltd. A plaque was added after 1945 to commemorate the fallen of the Second World War and subsequent conflicts.

MATERIALS: shap Granite ashlar with bronze plaques and cast-iron railings.

DESCRIPTION: the war memorial is situated at the centre of Rickerby Park, north of the River Eden. It comprises a broad raised platform 9m wide, approached by stone steps at the south, supporting a cenotaph 12m high. The cenotaph is built of shap granite ashlar with a tapering rectangular shaft on a chamfered three-tiered base. The shaft rises to a sub-cornice enriched by foliage carvings including palm branches, and is surmounted by a tomb decorated with a laurel wreath. The lower part of the shaft is carved with crests and insignia; those of Carlisle, Cumberland, the Royal Navy, the Army, the Royal Air Force and medical services on the front and those of the Border Regiment, the Westmorland and Cumberland Yeomanry Cavalry, and the Cumberland Artillery on the back. On the base is the inscription in raised lettering: TO THE IMMORTAL MEMORY OF THE MEN AND WOMEN/ OF CUMBERLAND AND WESTMORLAND/ WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES DURING THE GREAT WAR/ AND IN HONOUR OF THE GLORIOUS SERVICES OF THE/ BORDER REGIMENT/ WESTMORLAND AND CUMBERLAND YEOMANRY/ CUMBERLAND BRIGADE ROYAL FIELD ARTILLERY/ WESTMORLAND DETACHMENT R.A.M.C. Beneath it is a bronze plaque, which is inscribed in raised lettering: ALSO COMMEMORATING THOSE/ WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES IN/ WORLD WAR II (1939-1945)/ AND SUBSEQUENT CONFLICTS. The raised platform is constructed of three courses of massive stone blocks; two courses of quarry-faced granite topped by an ashlar parapet with a large terminal block at each angle. It is surrounded by a square enclosure formed of speared cast-iron railings and a cast-iron gate.