Public Monument and Sculpture Association National Recording Project
War Memorial
Region ID | BM | |
Work ID | 2105 | |
Manual Reference | WMduSTxx017 | |
Type | Sculpture | |
Title | War Memorial | |
Designer | Pickford, Ernest | |
Artist | Cassidy, John | |
Builder | Martins of Cheltenham | |
Date of design | ||
Year of unveiling | 1923 | |
Unveiling details | Unveiled 25 February 1923 | |
Road | ||
Precise Location | opposite the main entrance to Mary Stevens Park | |
A to Z Ref | 83 3F | |
OS Ref | ||
Postcode | ||
Work is | Extant | |
Listing Status | Not listed | |
Duty of Care | Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council | |
Commissioned by | Funded by public subscription | |
Notes | ||
At the front and rear of the lower portion of the plinth are two bronze relief panels, one depicting infantry, tanks and a despatch rider, the other illustrating sailors manning a heavy gun on board a warship. Immediately above these panels are bronze trophies surmounted by the main shaft, also of Darby Dale stone. Over the bronze name plates on this shaft are two bronze laurel wreaths encircling crests of the Royal Worcestershire Regiment, and two bronze lions' heads, one on each side of the shaft. Surmounting the monument is a female figure personifying Victorious Peace. She holds a bronze wreath in her left hand and a furled flag in her right. | ||
While Ernest Pickford designed the overall form of the memorial, the modelling of the female figure of Peace and the two reliefs panels at the base was undertaken by John Cassidy. The memorial was moved from its original site in front of the Old Free Library to its present site in Mary Stevens Park in 1968 (in order to make way for the inner ring road). | ||
circa | ||
raw year | 1923 | |
Condition | Good | |
At risk | No known risk | |
Inscriptions | (from front in clockwise direction) IN GRATEFUL MEMORY OF THE MEN OF STOURBRIDGE WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES IN THE GREAT WAR 1914-1918/ THIS MEMORIAL WAS ERECTED BY PUBLIC SUBSCRIPTION TO COMMEMORATE THE HEROISM OF THE MEN OF THIS BOROUGH AND WAS UNVEILED BY THE RIGHT HON. THE EARL OF COVENTRY FEB 25TH 1923/ THESE MEN FOUGHT AND DIED IN MANY LANDS AND SEAS FRANCE BELGIUM ITALY RUSSIA GREECE TURKEY MESOPOTAMIA PALESTINE THE NORTH SEA | |
Signatures | JOHN CASSIDY R.B.S. (under figure on top of plinth) | |
Elements
Element Details
Part of work | Material | Dimensions |
|---|---|---|
Base | Granite | 2.37m x 1.76m |
Plinth | Darby Dale stone | |
Figure | Bronze | |
Panels | Bronze | |
overall height of monument 7.5m | ||
Assessment of Condition
Surface Character
Detail | Comment |
|---|---|
Biological growth | |
Structural Condition
Structural Condition | Comment |
|---|---|
Other | front rails damaged |
Vandalism
Vandalism | Comment |
|---|---|
None | |