Chepstow War Memorial

The loss of life during the First World War brought about a national response through the construction of an unprecedented number of war memorials to commemorate the dead. Within Wales, which saw the loss of some 35,000 soldiers, memorials were established in many towns and cities during the 1920s.

Chepstow's memorial was designed by Eric Francis, the son of a Chepstow solicitor, who trained under Guy Dawber and Detmar Blow. It comprises a two-stage stone column, topped by a stone urn, all resting on a stone plinth with two deep steps. Each of the two stages has sunken panels on all four sides, and a cornice above which has stone orbs at the corners. The design is Neoclassical, an uncommon style for war memorials of this age and type. John Newman, in his Monmouthshire volume of The Buildings of Wales, describes the memorial as "the pivotal feature of Beaufort Square" and notes its "eighteenth century idiom". On the lower stage of the column, the sunken panel on the southwest face…