Todmorden War Memorial is a war memorial located in

Todmorden Todmorden ( ; ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Upper Calder Valley in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England. It is north-east of Manchester, south-east of Burnley and west of Halifax, West Yorkshire, Hal ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

, England.''Todmorden''.
UKNIWM report. Retrieved 24 August 2012 The memorial is in the garden of remembrance in Centre Vale Park with sculptural work by

Gilbert Bayes Gilbert William Bayes (4 April 1872 – 10 July 1953) was an English sculptor. His art works varied in scale from medals to large architectural clocks, monuments and equestrian statues and he was also a designer of some note, creating chess piec ...

. The War Memorial was unveiled on 9 October 1921.accompanied by a garden of flowers.

The monument

The memorial comprises an ornamental fountain with basin in which stands a carved relief pillar depicting draped female figures with wreath and palm. The pillar is surmounted by a St George standing on an orb. The orb features four dragon head water spouts. The fountain is placed in front of a long wall with tablets bearing the names of the fallen. The fountain and wall are set within a formal garden in which also stood two freestanding statues of "The Lamp of Memory" and "The Shield of Honour". The original statues were stolen in 1996, however, in summer 2011 Todmorden Civic Society under the direction of Paul Clarke, a former Gunner, embarked on a campaign to raise funds and have the statues replaced in time for centenary of the commencement of the First World War.''Todmorden Civic Society to Replace the Gilbert Bayes Statues in the Garden of Remembrance.''
Todmorden Civic Society. Retrieved 18 August 2012. After over three years of fundraising and successfully applying for grants towards the project, the two replica statues, carved by Nick Roberson, member of The Master Carvers Association were unveiled at a Rededication Service held at the Garden of Remembrance after a Military Parade by the Todmorden branch of the British Legion on Sunday 12 October. The project led to further works being carried out to the War Memorial with a grant from the Yorkshire Garden Trust and funding from Calderdale Council. The works included re-laying of paths, together with new stone edgings, indent repairs to the name tablets, re-pointing of the memorial wall, cleaning of the St George statue and repairs to the stone steps at the rear of the garden. Much of this work was carried out by Bullen Conservation and Nick Roberson.

Inscriptions

The piece stands on a plinth in a horse-shoe shaped water basin with a tall wall behind bearing the dates “1914–18” and “1939–1945”. Between these two dates is set the main

inscription Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...

, the text of which is given below and on either side and in six bays are tablets engraved with the names of the fallen. Apart from remembering the 659 men from Todmorden who died in

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 ...

, the memorial also remembers the 150 men of Todmorden who died in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and two men killed in the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

. The names are arranged alphabetically, without distinction as to rank, under their respective regiments. The sculptures were completed in 1921 and the main inscription reads:

Notes

References

External links

{{Commons category, Todmorden War Memorial
National Archives website article covering some of Gilbert Bayes’ work"Gilbert Bayes"
Gilbertbayes.com (Rathbone Trust Company Ltd) - documentary film by Tom Tremayne covering Gilbert Bayes' life and work. British military memorials and cemeteries World War I memorials in England World War II memorials in England Buildings and structures in Calderdale Monuments and memorials in West Yorkshire Todmorden 1921 sculptures