Monument record 0723100000 - Aylesbury War Memorial.

A cross of sacrifice rising from the centre of a low wall with name panels, surrounded by a low chain link fence. A street lamp rises from each end of the wall and a nowy-headed plaque with a maltese cross with dates 1914-1919 above the inscription. There is a sword on the front face and the lamp bases are ornamented with acanthus leaf and the shafts are wreathed in laurel. The memorial is 21 ft high and constructed of portland stone. The name panels are made of bronze. The masonry cost £1930 6s and was designed by Fred Taylor, architect and constructed by Webster and Cannon Builders. S B Goslin and Sons were responsible for the brass plaques and this costed £420. The majority of the work was done by ex-servicemen. The money for the memorial was raised by public subscription. The monument was dedicated by the Rev VL Whitechurch and unveiled by the Lord Lieutenant of Buckingham on 15 September 1921. A futher ceremony was carried out on 20 May 1951, with local dignitaries and clergy in attendance. Sir Reginald Blomfield who designed the International War Graves Commission cross of sacrifice was critical of this memorial both for pirating his design and the execution. The memorial was cleaned in September 1997 and is currently in good condition.
The memorial commemorates 230 local people who were killed in action in WW1, 108 killed in action in WW2 and 1 person in the Falklands Conflict of 1982 (B1).
Photographs of the memorial and plaques together with information on the WW1 war dead (B2).
Listed at Grade II, May 2017. The monument was listed for the following reasons:
- Historic interest: as an eloquent witness to the tragic impact of world events on the local comm unity, and the sacrifice it made in the conflicts of the C20;
- Architectural interest: an adaptation of Blomfield’s Cross of Sacrifice, aggrandised and monumentalised by the local architect;
- Group value: one of a number of listed monuments in the vicinity, with a strong visual relationship with a number of listed buildings.
Detailed history and description (B7).