Cleaning of the Midsomer Norton War Memorial

The aftermath of the First World War saw the biggest single wave of public commemoration ever with tens of thousands of memorials erected across England. One such memorial was raised at Midsomer Norton, as a permanent testament to the sacrifice made by the members of the local community who lost their lives in the First and Second World Wars.

The memorial was unveiled and dedicated on 11 November 1920 by Rev. RJ Davey. It commemorates 73 local servicemen who died during the First World War. Following the Second World War, a dedication was added to commemorate the 36 fallen of that conflict.

The memorial is a scaled-down replica of the Cenotaph, London with consent being given by its designer Edwin Lutyens to use the copyright of the design, albeit in different materials. It consists of a three stepped Blue Keynton stone base with St Aldhelm stone cenotaph. The memorial has a bronze wreath and plaques on its faces. The wreath is located on one of the side faces and below this is inscribed THE/ GLORIOUS/ DEAD with a small bronze plaque below.

Over time, the Memorial has become weathered, and the inscriptions were hard to read. The Town Council commissioned David Dunscombe to carry out the cleaning. David and his team also removed the flower beds and repaired the stonework around the Memorial.

The project was funded from the Council's War Memorial Ear Marked Reserve. The Council would like to thank Celia’s Hairdresser for the use of water and electric during the project and Stonebarn for replanting the flowers from the flowerbeds to the Hollies Garden.