Structures and buildings

This page shows examples of different war memorial structures and buildings. Please see the Gallery page for details of how you can use these and copyright details.

Arches

Victoria Park, Leicestershire (WM438)

The inscription on this large memorial shows that it commemorates 12,000 men in the county who, 'died for freedom,' in the First World War.

Ascham St Vincent, East Sussex (WM1843)

This archway was erected in 1919 at the entrance to Ascham St Vincent School to remember former pupils who fell in the First World War. Their names are recorded on plaques on the arch.

Chapels and churches

Berkswell, Staffordshire (WM632)

Berkswell's First World War memorial is a small chapel in the corner of the churchyard. It has arches and a small altar. Names of those it commemorates are inscribed within.

Oakley Hall School chapel, Gloucestershire (WM4989)

This chapel was built after the First World War in memory of the Old Boys and teachers of the school who had been killed in the conflict, and of the first Headmaster of the school, who had died in 1914 and to whom the chapel was originally intended to be a memorial. It was dedicated in 1920 and names of those killed in the Second World War were added later.

Ryde, Isle of Wight (WM6283)

This picture shows a war memorial chapel on the Isle of Wight. A wooden plaque inside the chapel shows that the chapel is a memorial to the fallen of the First World War.

Clock towers

Isleworth, London (WM2)

Isleworth's clock tower has a sword and laurel wreath carved in relief on the sides, and a cross on top of the tower. Three of the sides carry plaques showing the names of the fallen from the First World War, and Second World War names were later added.

Helmsdale, Argyll and Bute (WM139)

This memorial clock tower was unveiled in 1924. The local community undertook a major conservation project in 1999 when it became clear that the memorial was in danger of crumbling. The memorial lists the names of the fallen from the First and Second World Wars, plus their regiments.

Friday Bridge, Cambridgeshire (WM131)

This clock tower was funded by voluntary subscription and unveiled in November 1919. The inscription dedicates the memorial to the fallen of the First World War, and uses the dates August 1914 to July 1919.

Cloister/colonnade

Sedbergh School, Cumbria (WM917)

This war memorial takes the form of a cloister in the school grounds, commemorating former pupils who fell in the First World War.

Blackmoor, Hampshire (WM1434)

This memorial is situated adjacent to the local church. It is a cloister with a fountain, garden and a cross.

National Monument, Edinburgh (WM2370)

This memorial is an imposing sandstone monument, and is a memorial to Scottish troops killed in the Napoleonic Wars.

Gates

Maxwelltown, Dumfries and Galloway (WM2545)

The gates to this (now closed) church were dedicated as a war memorial in 1950 and commemorate the fallen of both World Wars.

Abersychan and Pontypool, Gwent (WM132)

These gates stand at the entrance to a park. Plaques fixed to the gates show that the memorial commemorates the two World Wars and the Korean War.

Halls

Glen Parva, Leicestershire (WM490)

This hall was dedicated as a memorial to the fallen of the Second World War. Inside the hall there is a Roll of Honour listing the names of those commemorated.

Hospitals

Victoria Memorial Hospital, Kent (WM4590)

A plaque above an entrance to this hospital shows that the building was erected after the First World War as a memorial to the fallen. There is also a cross in the grounds.

Shelters

Crediton, Devon (WM1285)

This shelter is a war memorial for Crediton and the surrounding hamlets. It commemorates the fallen of the First and Second World Wars and one soldier who was killed during the Aden Emergency. Their names are inscribed onto a stone shaft in the centre of the shelter.

Great Totham, Essex (WM1584)

The memorial here is a bus shelter with a dedicatory plaque inside. The memorial commemorates the fallen of the Second World War.

Holy Trinity Church, Cambridge (WM2520)

This wooden memorial shelter commemorates the fallen of the First World War. Their names are carved into the wood around the inside of the shelter.

Shrines

Goodrich and Welsh Bicknor, Herefordshire (WM315)

This brick and timber structure contains several stone tablets within, listing the names of those it commemorates. The fallen from the First and Second World Wars are remembered.

Clifton, Bedfordshire (WM2616)

This war memorial consists of a stone plaque fixed underneath a timber canopy. The location of the memorial, the site of the now redundant well, was chosen in the aftermath of the First World War because it was here that many of the young men commemorated used to meet and socialise before the war. Their names, and those of the fallen from the Second World War, are inscribed on the plaque.

Stoneham, Hampshire (WM2331)

This war memorial shrine was constructed from stone from a local quarry. It has three compartments; two closed spaces intended for prayer and one larger, open space with an altar and crucifix. Plaques listing the names of the fallen from the First World War flank this.

Sports pavillions

Pelton Fell park and pavillion, County Durham (WM168)

This war memorial is, rather unusually, a park with gates at the entrance showing the dates of the First World War, and a monument and pavillion within. Local Scouts took part in forming a Guard of Honour during the unveiling ceremony in 1920.

Barnstaple Park Community School pavillion, Devon (WM933)

This pavillion carries a plaque above the entrance showing it is a war memorial. The school also has a Roll of Honour listing those the memorial commemorates.

Walls

RAF Kenley, London (WM201)

This war memorial wall depicts an RAF crest and figures representing members of crew.

Wood Green, London (WM492)

This wall has plaques listing names of the fallen set into it, and railings in front of it.

Cwmparc 1941, Mid Glamorgan (WM1625)

The memorial at Parc Primary School, in Cwmparc in the Rhondda Valley, commemorates those who were killed when an enemy plane dropped a bomb on the town on the night of 29th April 1941. The memorial consists of a wall with mosaics set in it to give it the appearance of terraced houses, and above this, on a tall brick wall, a design of blue and white mosaics to represent the sky, with three aeroplanes. On a plaque above the low wall are the names of those killed.

The teacher at the school who organised the memorial was motivated by the fact that the grassed over area where the houses had stood was still referred to by local children as “the bombed houses” even though they did not know why. Of the 27 people killed that night many were children, and three were evacuees from the same family who had been sent away from the Blitz in London.

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