photo: Steve Birks - Oct 1999
War Memorial originally built
to commemorate the dead of World War I. The sculptor was Harold
Brownsword and the memorial stands outside the Town Hall in
Albion Street, Hanley.
The memorial was unveiled on 11
November 1922 by Mrs Cecil Wedgwood, JP
Statue of bronze one and a half
times life size on a plinth 1.35m square x 3.2m high
There is a plaque inside the entrance to Hanley Town Hall with
the names of fallen soldiers inscribed.
Description of the memorial:
The bronze female figure of Victory stands atop the plinth, her
helmet plumed with a lion and a snake beneath her feet. She
holds up a sword encircled by a wreath in her right hand, and
there is a shield behind her at her left heel. It is circular
and its design is of five circular roundels, each containing a
royal crown surrounded by a wreath. Victory wears a short chain
mail top over a laced bodice and a full-length skirt, and her
cloak is swept over her shoulder.
On the front of the plinth the Stoke on Trent coat of arms
appears encircled by a wreath and flanked by two Tudor roses. On
each of the two sides of the plinth are further wreaths, again
in bronze.
Additional black stone tablets with incised inscriptions have
been added to two sides of the plinth.
Symbolism:
The snake beneath Victory's feet alludes to the defeat of evil,
in this case by force of arms (the sword in her right hand). The
wreath is another signifier of Victory, while the lion on the
female figure's helmet and the two Tudor roses either side of
the Stoke on Trent coat of arms symbolise the English nation.
front of plinth,
bronze lettering:
TO
OUR VALIANT
DEAD
1914-1918
&
1939-1945
back of plinth,
bronze lettering:
THEY DIED
FOR
OUR FREEDOM
left side of
plinth, on small slate plaque in incised gold lettering
NORTH STAFFS
BRANCH
DEDICATED TO OUR COMPANIONS WHO FOUGHT IN
THE BURMA CAMPAIGN
1941-1945
"WHEN YOU GO HOME, TELL THEM OF US AND SAY,
FOR YOUR TOMORROW WE GAVE OUR TODAY."
LEST WE FORGET.
rear of plinth,
on small slate plaque in incised gold lettering:
NORTH
STAFFORDSHIRE EX FAR EAST
PRISONERS OF WAR ASSOCIATION
TO THOSE WHO SERVED IN THE FAR EAST IN
THE 1939-1945 WAR AND DIED IN JAPANESE
PRISON CAMPS OR LATER AS RESULT OF CAPTIVITY.
