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Widnes

The war memorial in Victoria Park in the town of Widnes, Cheshire, is a tall Portland stone pillar with a sculpture of a flame at the top. The pillar stands on a square plinth and a large square base with corner columns faced with cast iron laurel wreaths. At the top of the pillar a sword and a laurel wreath are carved in relief on each face, and at the bottom of each is a swag. There are dedications on three faces of the plinth, and bronze panels around the base record the names of the fallen.

The memorial had suffered from the effects of age such as algal growth and copper and atmospheric staining as well as graffiti and vandalism. In 2005/6 English Heritage and the Wolfson Foundation gave a grant of £1,650 towards work to clean the memorial with a steam cleaning system, to remove graffiti and staining, to clean the cast iron wreaths and re-paint them to match the original, to re-paint the lettering to match the original and to re-point joints using lime mortar.

In 2018, a Grants for War Memorials award of £10,950 supported repair and conservation works. The stone was cleaned and re-pointed with lime mortar. Selective sharpening and deepening of the lettering was also undertaken. The bronze work was cleaned and re-waxed. Repairs were undertaken to the stone and lead sprouts.

Inscriptions on the panels around the faces of the plinth read

Their name liveth for evermore

To our glorious dead
1914 – 1919
1939 - 1945

Erected by the citizens
of the borough of Widnes
in commemoration of the
men of this place who made
the supreme sacrifice in
the Great War of 1914 – 1919

This foundation stone was
laid 28th August 1920 by
Alderman Edwin Wood Mayor

The blood of heroes is the seed of freedom

The memorial was designed by Harold E. Davies, the sculpture carved by Herbert Tyson Smith and the builders were Messrs Stewart Jones. It was unveiled by the 17th Earl of Derby, who had been responsible for one of the most successful recruitment drives in August 1914 in Liverpool; 1500 men joined up in two days, and three more “pals battalions” were subsequently recruited. The Earl also served as Secretary of State for War from December 1916.

In April 1950 the mayor of Widnes unveiled further bronze plaques bearing names of 289 local residents killed in World War II.

Further information

War Memorials Trust reference WM1550
UK National Inventory of War Memorials: 18286

War Memorials Trust has information that this memorial is listed at Grade II, but at the time of writing the listing records were not available on Heritage Gateway.

War Memorials Online: 105698

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

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