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Nottingham

The City of Nottingham war memorial is a 36acre War Memorial Garden. The main war memorial structure stands in the eastern part of the Grade II-registered Memorial Garden, Victoria Embankment, Nottingham. The eastern arc of the gateway and colonnade overlooks the River Trent, whilst the gateway is aligned to the central ornamental pond of the Memorial Gardens to the west. The Portland stone memorial comprises a c14m high and c18m wide Doric triumphal triple arch, flanked by curving colonnade walls that are c6m high and c26m long with intermediate pedestals. A further bronze plaque on the central arch reproduces in full Marshal Foch’s 1918 tribute to the Sherwood Foresters. The curving colonnades to either side comprise three bays each with a similarly decorated frieze, simple cornice and low parapet continuing to the end piers. The colonnades end in short returning walls, parallel to Victoria Embankment, with a final pier. The railings on the plinth, between the columns in each bay, are also continued along these returning walls. The terrace wall to the west, overlooking the ornamental pond and gardens, is listed at Grade II. The central archway is 8m high and 5m wide, with the two arches either side being 6m high and 2.5m wide. On the eastern side the dates 1914 – 1918 (to the left) and 1939 – 1945 (to the right) are carved above the side arches. The arch openings are gated with ornamental wrought iron work, with the City coat of arms adorning the central gate. The frieze above bears the inscription ‘VIVIT POST FUNERA VIRTUS’ carved in relief, with triglyphs and guttae centred above each of the arch’s columns. The strongly projecting cornice with dentils and mutule band carries a parapet on which, to the centre, the city arms are carved in relief. The western side of the arch, facing the garden, is treated slightly differently, with squared engaged columns supporting a frieze of triglyphs and metopes below the cornice. The parapet is un-decorated on this side. Bronze plaques, with inscriptions cast in relief, are fixed to the interior walls of the archway.

In 2021 this memorial received a War Memorials Trust grant of £30,000 through Grants for War Memorials scheme supported by Historic England. The memorial was cleaned using a specialist steam cleaning system. The construction joints were carefully raked out to remove loose and flaking mortar and then re-pointed using a lime mortar. Damaged stonework was repaired carefully cutting out the damaged area and indenting a new piece of stone with matching stone attached using stainless steel pins.

Other smaller areas of damaged stone were repaired using a lime mortar consolidant. The works formed part of a £1.1m National Lottery Heritage Fund regeneration project.
The in Nottingham Corporation’s proposal to spend £20,000 constructing a Great War memorial in the city’s Market Square was abandoned after protests in 1919 from former servicemen who felt that, if such a large sum was available, it should be spent rehabilitating those returning to civilian life and especially the wounded. The war memorial and memorial gardens were built instead on Victoria Embankment on land donated by Sir Jesse Boot, Founder of Boots the Chemist, to the Corporation in 1920. The land was to provide open space and a memorial. Work first started on the gardens in 1923 and they were opened to the public on the 11th November 1927. The original design of the memorial included steps to the riverside, but these steps were removed after World War II.

The inscription reads:
City Of Nottingham Ever Grateful Memory Of The Men Of Nottingham Who Gave Their Lives For Their King And Country In The Great War 1914 - 1918 Erected By Their Fellow Citizens (Plaque To Right) City Of Nottingham This Tablet Was Placed Here To Honour The Memory Of Those Men And Women Of Nottingham Who Fell In The Second World War 1939 - 1945 (Foundation Stone) This Foundation Stone Was Laid By Hrh The Prince Of Wales Kg Kt Mc On Wednesday 1st August 1923

Further information

War Memorials Trust reference WM2421
UK National Inventory of War Memorials: 28

War Memorials Online: WMO/147236

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

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