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Briton Ferry

Briton Ferry war memorial is bronze statue of an infantryman with bowed head and rifle pointing to the ground mounted on a pedestal, surrounded by a precinct and step. The base of the memorial has a bronze sculpted trophy with a gun and an empty scabbard crossed within a laurel wreath with ribbons and a sculpted trophy with laurel wreath and ribbons resting on an anchor flanked by a chart, rope and telescope. It is located on Neath Road, Briton Ferry in Neath Port Talbot county. The memorial is Grade II listed.

In 2018, a grant of £25,000 was awarded through War Memorials Trust Grant Scheme, supported by the First World War Memorials Programme and other voluntary contributions from supporters. It supported repair and conservation works which included stone cleaning using the steam system DOFF, careful removal of defective mortar from the construction joints and repoint with an appropriate lime mortar, conservation cleaning of the bronze, rewaxing the wax and stone repairs to the wall and paving. SmartWater was also applied to the war memorial as part of the In Memoriam 2014 project seeking to deter the theft of metal from war memorials.

The memorial, designed by, Gaffin of Regent Street, London, and was unveiled on 18th November 1921 with attendance from Sergeant George Best. The pavement surrounding the statue is fairly recent. The memorial is built into a bank with coursed rock-faced revetment walls with ashlar coping. The side walls are ramped and return outwards to flank the original approach steps, but the present approach steps and related balustrades are later, added after 1945. These are of reconstituted stone and comprise steps with flanking balustrades terminated by square piers. Facing the front the balustrades return outwards and rusticated pilasters flank panels either side engraved with the dates of the 2 wars. The memorial commemorates those from the First World War, with later additions for the Second World War and Afghanistan.

Further information

War Memorials Trust reference WM3440
UK National Inventory of War Memorials: 6609

War Memorials Online: 200057

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

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