Preston Cenotaph

The Preston Cenotaph stands in Market Square Preston, Lancashire, England and is a monument to soldiers from Preston who perished in World War I and II. Unveiled on 13 June 1926, the memorial was designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott with sculptural work by Henry Alfred Pegram.

The monument
The monument's main feature is a figure of “Victory” whose arms are raised and who holds laurel wreaths in either hand. The figure stands within columns supporting a pediment and on either side of the “Victory” figure are representations of those who died said to be “pleading for acceptance of their sacrifice”. At the very top of the monument there is an empty coffin (hence “cenotaph” or “empty tomb”) with cherubs and strands of foliage carved around it. There are flagpoles on either side of the monument. The memorial was unveiled on 13 June 1926 by Admiral of the Fleet Earl Jellicoe of Scapa.

The main inscription reads:

The names of those World War I servicemen honoured are contained in a Roll of Honour located in the Harris Museum. This Roll of Honour is inscribed on marble tablets on the ground floor of the building.The names of some 2,000 Prestonians are thus recorded Details of seven people whose names were omitted from the original listings were discovered and a framed document recording their names was installed in 1998.

No Roll of Honour was produced for those who lost their lives in the Second World War but the Cenotaph remembers the deceased of both World Wars.