Showcase result

Cookham Dean

Cookham Dean war memorial is a freestanding monument prominently located on the village green, close to Cookham, Berkshire. The memorial is a small Latin cross rising from a moulded collar, on a tapering shaft which has a fluted and beaded spiral pattern, standing on a stone pedestal. The intersection of the cross arms is ornamented with a small shield to the front elevation. The pedestal stands on a three-stage base, each made of stone, brick, and knapped flint squares in the lowest stage. The memorial is set by a paving of cobbles and stone kerbs. It is Grade ll listed.

In 2014, an application to the Grants for War Memorials scheme, supported by English Heritage (now Historic England) and the Wolfson Foundation was received to support a programme of repair and conservation works. A grant of £30,000 was offered. The project aimed to address varying levels of stone deterioration, increasingly illegible inscriptions, later unsympathetic additions, failed pointing and the now unsettled hard landscape.

In 1946 two bronze plaques were added to the war memorial to commemorate World War ll names and in 1974, another two bronze plaques were added to display some of the eroding World War l names. The plaque ‘solution’ had been a cost effective, if rather visually unsympathetic, one in response to the weathered stone. While considered an interesting part of the history of the memorial, the plaques had trapped water to the stone against which they were attached, exacerbating natural stone deterioration. They were removed as part of this project and are now in the care of Cookham Cemetery chapel.

The stone panels which had originally borne the inscribed names of World War l fallen were now almost impossible to read so a comparable limestone was sourced, the names inscribed onto new panels, and inset into the existing shallow recesses. Deepening and sharpening trials of the original inscriptions were undertaken but regrettably the stone was too deteriorated to retain. The names which had existed on the World War ll plaques were added to new limestone panels and carefully mounted to the same pedestal location. These judgements attempted to balance the desire to retain original fabric whilst ensuring the memorial could fulfil its commemorative function.

Other works included removing failed pointing and repointing joints with lime mortar, a steam clean to remove biological and atmospheric deposits which also helped to improve the legibility of the principal dedicatory inscription. The pebble paving had been previously set inappropriately with concrete and could not be repaired in-situ without fracturing. It was therefore lifted and renewed using carefully sourced pebbles. A name that had been researched and the spelling found to be incorrect was corrected.

The principal dedicatory inscription on the pedestal reads “For God King and Country” and “Faithful unto death 1914-1918”. The experienced project architect was Frederick Charles Eden (1864 - 1944). The memorial was dedicated on 23rd November 1919. It was rededicated following completion of the project in November 2016 with the Prime Minister the Rt. Hon. Theresa May in attendance.

Further information

War Memorials Trust reference WM6164
UK National Inventory of War Memorials: 7887

War Memorials Online: 131369

If you have a concern about this memorial please contact the Trust on conservation@warmemorials.org

Return to search results | Start a new search