War Memorial, Abbots Bromley

The following has been compiled from information supplied by Philip Charles and drawn from the Parish Council files.

The Grade II listed War Memorial on the green in the centre of the village commemorates the dead of the two world wars.

History of the War Memorial

At a public meeting on 30 April 1919, the Catholic priest, Father Joseph Craig, proposed a cross on the village green as a memorial to the dead of the 1914-18 war. The memorial was erected in 1920 at a cost of £210 by Bridgeman of Lichfield to a design by local artist Frederick Mercer.

On 5 June 1920 the congregation of the Catholic Church – led by Father Craig – held a service at the newly erected memorial. On the 20th of the same month there was an evening dedication of the war memorial by the Bishop of Lichfield.

Some renovations were carried out in 1973 by J Oldham (Stonemasons) of Uttoxeter at a cost of £138. More extensive restoration of both the memorial and the surrounds took place in 2001 at a cost of £3800. In 2003, the estimated cost of replacing the memorial was £30-35,000.

The memorial was granted “Grade II Listed” status on 19 July 2000.

Description of the War Memorial

The entry for the listed status of the memorial reads “First World War Memorial. Erected 1920; possibly to the designs of Frederick Mercer, a local artist. Local Hollington stone. Octagonal base, on which stands a pedestal with slate inscription panels and Gothic panelled shafts at the corners, supporting a tall slender square-section shaft with a St Chads cross on top, the base of the cross gableted. The inscription panels on the sides of the pedestal have carved on them the names of the dead.”

Inscriptions on the War Memorial

The picture on the left shows all the inscriptions on the four faces of the War Memorial. Clicking on the image will provide an enlarged version enabling the words to be more clearly seen.

For ease of reference, the words are also repeated in the table below.