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A tapering pylon with subtly panelled faces reflecting the profile of the Boer War obelisk that previously stood on this site. The top of the pylon takes the form of a square sepulchral block with shallow pediments and corner acroteria, above which is a large block ornamented with swags to each side, held by cherubs on the angles. At the base the pylon stands on a large slab with, to the front, a projecting block supported on brackets. This represents the sarcophagus, and on the front of this is a bronze cross within a wreath. A non-canonical Ionic aedicule above encloses the helmeted figure of the Sorrowing Victory by Pegram, which was commissioned in late 1925. She holds wreaths aloft and is flanked by two pairs of Michaelangelesque nude figures of the dead ‘pleading for acceptance of their sacrifice’. The head of the aedicule has a frieze of five cherubs with linked hands. Its pediment is formed of two scrolls enclosing a cartouche with the city arms, appropriately the Lamb of God, symbol of the patron saint of Preston, Saint Wilfred.
The names of those honoured by the memorial, some 2,000 Prestonians, are contained in a Roll of Honour on the ground floor of the Harris Museum and Art Gallery, inscribed on marble tablets.
Title
Cenotaph
Date
1926
Medium
Portland stone & bronze
Measurements
H 2100 x W 350 x D 350 cm (E);
Plinth: H 30 x W 1200 x D 1200 cm (E)
Accession number
PR1_SB_S026
Acquisition method
commissioned by Preston Corporation
Work type
War memorial
Owner
Preston City Council
Custodian
Preston City Council
Work status
extant
Listing status
Grade I (England and Wales)
Unveiling date
13 June 1926
Listing date
20/12/91
Access
at all times
Inscription description
front of the memorial, below the sarcophagus: BE EVER MINDFUL OF THE MEN OF PRESTON / WHO FELL IN THE GREAT WARS / 1914 – 1918 1939 – 1945 / THIS LAND INVIOLATE YOUR MONUMENT; outer face of the west wall a new (2013) inscription: BE EVER PROUD OF THE PEOPLE OF PRESTON WHO / HAVE GIVEN THEIR LIVES IN CONFLICTS SINCE 1945.