"FORDHAM WAR MEMORIAL"
To the eternal memory of the men of FORDHAM who died in the service of their country
One man from the Boer War
Forty casualties from the Great War 1914-1918
and Fourteen men who fell in the 1939-45 war
plus one man from each war who is not named on the memorial
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Fordham war memorial is situated adjacent the Memorial Grounds (Opened 2003), opposite the junction of Church Street with Carter Street, to the right of the Victoria Jubilee Memorial Hall. A tall, circular Portland stone column, about 15 feet high, surmounted by a figure of a knight holding his sword in his right hand, hilt uppermost, his left hand resting in a stylised shield. The pillar stands upon a two-layered stone plinth. The front face of the upper tier bears the words: "Our Glorious Dead" Beneath this around all four faces of the lower tier are engraved 41 names of the dead of WW1, in alphabetical order, without rank or unit details, the last face containing three names out of order. Above two opposing faces are the dates 1914 and 1919 in Roman numerals. On the upper tier, on two opposing faces, are 15 names of the fallen from WW2, with the dates 1939 and 1945. The whole stands upon a square plinth upon a single tier pavement within a tarmac surfaced area. The land upon which the memorial stands was donated to the village by a local resident, Mrs Dunn-Gardner who lived at Fordham Abbey. It was appropriate that she should therefore be asked to unveil the memorial, which took place on 7th August 1921. The figure of a knight is of St George, designed by Sir E.Lutyens, was originally bronze, from the studio of Sir George Frampton. Another such figure is on the Hove, Sussex war memorial. The memorial was smashed in June 1991 and, with the column laying in pieces on the ground, thieves made off with the bronze St. George which, presumably, was melted down for scrap. A fibreglass copy was made by a local sculptor, Ronald Donaldson from Yaxley, near Peterborough, and the memorial was rebuilt at a cost of £4,750. It was rededicated by the Lord Bishop of Ely on 19 July 1992.
close up of St George 2013 courtesy Tim Skelton   South and East faces   North and West faces They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old, |
