Macclesfield War Memorial

In 1919 a public meeting was held in the town and a War Memorial Committee was formed. The committee invited public subscriptions to be given toward the design and erection of a memorial to commemorate those who had been lost in the First World War. Although money was slow to come in, the committee invited John Millard of the Manchester School of Art to produce a model for a memorial. The model included a statue of Britannia laying a crown of laurels on the body of a soldier who had died from gassing. There was discussion about the "gruesome" nature of this statue, and some argued for a more heroic subject, but Millard's model was eventually accepted. It was built locally by E. and H.…

The memorial consists of a stone pedestal and pillar, with statues, wreathes, and inscribed plates in bronze. It stands about 7.3 m high. On top of the main pillar is the bronze statue of a female figure, mourning and holding a wreath, representing those who were left behind at home. At the foot of the column are two more bronze statues. One is of a soldier who has died from gassing, clutching a gas mask which he had not had time to place over his face. The other is of Britannia, leaning over the soldier, placing a laurel wreath over his head. On the front of the base of the memorial is an inscription: The left side of the pillar is inscribed: The right side is: And the back is inscribed:…