Showcase result

Fordham

The memorial comprises a Doric column of Portland stone, originally surmounted by a bronze statue of St George by Sir George Frampton RA and since the 1990s by a fibreglass replacement by Robert Donaldson. The column rises from a two-stage square plinth, itself set on a two-stage square base. The overall, the memorial is 6m tall. Inscriptions on the upper stage of the plinth and the names of the fallen of both wars are inscribed on all four sides of the lower plinth. The memorial is located in Fordham Garden of Remembrance.

In 2016 War Memorials Trust gave a grant of £2,320 towards conservation works to clean the memorial using natural bristle brushes, soap and low pressure water washing. Careful removal of defective/loose mortar from construction joints was carried out followed by re-pointing with lime mortar. The inscription lettering was then re-painted in black acrylic paint to match original.

A war memorial committee was formed in June 1919 and originally proposed to erect a portico with mural tablets at the entrance to the local cemetery. Instead Sir Edwin Lutyens was commissioned and designed a column surmounted by a bronze statue of St George by Sir George Frampton RA and set in a memorial garden. The memorial was built by Frank Johnson, a local builder and stone mason and was unveiled by Mrs Dunn-Gardner on 7 August 1921. In June 1991 the memorial was demolished by vandals and the statue stolen. A replacement statue of St George, moulded in fibreglass by Robert Donaldson, now surmounts the column.

Inscriptions on the upper stage of the plinth read:
OUR/ GLORIOUS/ DEAD; MCMXIV; MCMXIX

Further information

War Memorials Trust reference WM9942
UK National Inventory of War Memorials: 1290

War Memorials Online: 121223

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

Return to search results | Start a new search