The County of Pembroke War Memorial ''(Welsh: Cofeb Ryfel Sir Benfro)'' is a county war memorial in

Pembrokeshire Pembrokeshire ( ; cy, Sir Benfro ) is a Local government in Wales#Principal areas, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and the rest by sea. The count ...

, Wales. It was erected in 1921 in Pembrokeshire's county town,

Haverfordwest Haverfordwest (, ; cy, Hwlffordd ) is the county town of Pembrokeshire, Wales, and the most populous urban area in Pembrokeshire with a population of 14,596 in 2011. It is also a community, being the second most populous community in the county, ...

, to commemorate the county's fallen of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. It is a Grade II

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structure.

Planning

Originally, the local authority's intention, having established a public fund to build a memorial hospital in Haverfordwest, was to use money left over to place plaques in the town to remember those killed in the war. As the administrative centre for the county, Haverfordwest was believed to be the appropriate place for this. However, there were calls, led by local MP Sir

Ivor Philipps Sir Ivor Philipps, (9 September 1861 – 15 August 1940) was a British officer in the British Indian Army and a Liberal Party politician. He held a seat in the House of Commons from 1906 to 1922. Early life Philipps was the son of Rev. Sir J. ...

and other public and political figures, for a more substantial memorial. While funding continued and professional advice was sought, a design and location was decided upon. The War Memorial Committee finalised the design and materials in August 1920.

Design and construction

The memorial is a plinth on which rests a square column, topped by a seated dragon with folded wings. It was designed by the architects

Oswald Milne Oswald Partridge Milne FRSA FRIBA (February 1881 – 15 January 1968) was a British architect. Biography Born in Balham, London, in February 1881, Milne was the son of the architect William Oswald Milne (1847-1927), who was a partner with T ...

and Paul Phipps, and the sculptor was W. R. Morgan. The memorial was constructed of

Forest of Dean The Forest of Dean is a geographical, historical and cultural region in the western part of the county of Gloucestershire, England. It forms a roughly triangular plateau bounded by the River Wye to the west and northwest, Herefordshire to the n ...

stone with bronze plaques and built by Haverfordwest masons T. Morgan & Son. Standing tall, it was originally sited facing over the New Bridge in Salutation Square. The memorial plaque to the front bears the arms of the county and has the following inscription: Listed on each of the other three sides are four columns of approximately 100 names, ordered by regiment or unit. The

Imperial War Museum Imperial War Museums (IWM) is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. Founded as the Imperial War Museum in 1917, the museum was intended to record the civil and military ...

's website lists some. The words SACRIFICE, HONOUR, VICTORY and COURAGE appear above the plaques; on each of the four chamfered corners are listed eleven battle honours. The unveiling, on 3 September 1921, was performed by Private Hubert William ("Stokey") Lewis V.C. of the 11th

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, and was attended by dignitaries and large crowds. When new roads were constructed in the 1970s, the memorial was moved to its present location in Picton Place, close by the former Masonic Hall. The structure was Grade II listed in 2005 "...as a particularly fine piece of early C20 sculpture and for historical interest as the county war memorial", and the Royal Commission on Monuments placed the record of the memorial online in 2013.

References

External links

{{Commons category, Pembrokeshire War Memorial, Haverfordwest World War I memorials in Wales Grade II listed buildings in Pembrokeshire Grade II listed monuments and memorials Buildings and structures completed in 1921

Planning

Design and construction

See also

References

External links