Dudley Boer War Memorial

Summary

Boer War Memorial, 1904.

Reasons for Designation

Dudley Boer War Memorial, which stands in Dudley Cemetery, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Historic interest: as an eloquent witness to the tragic impact of world events on this local community, and the sacrifice it has made in the Second Boer War;
* Architectural interest: a substantial and elaborate war memorial incorporating Classical motifs.

History

Dudley Boer War Memorial was unveiled in the new cemetery on 23 September 1904 by Lieutenant General Sir Neville Gerald Lyttleton, Chief of the General Staff, in commemoration of 56 local men who died serving in the Second Boer War (1899-1902). The memorial’s cost of c £300 was funded by public subscription and it was sculpted by Henry Owen Burgess (d1929), a local artist who studied at Dudley School of Art and was active between 1884 and 1924.

In 2013 the bronze rifle and stone hands of the standing soldier figure were broken off. These were reinstated in Portland stone as part of a project undertaken in 2015.

Details

MATERIALS: Marble figures, granite plinth, Portland stone.

DESCRIPTION: Dudley Boer War Memorial stands in a prominent position in the north side of Dudley cemetery, overlooking Stourbridge Road. It comprises a red and grey granite plinth, square on plan, with fluted black granite Ionic reeded pilasters to each corner. The memorial is 5.5m high with a three-stage base.

Rising from the plinth’s pediment is a red granite pedestal on which stands the sculpture of a soldier holding a rifle with its bayonet fixed, in defence of an injured bugler who lies at his feet (a popular Boer War memorial motif). The figures are carved from Sicilian marble, the rifle is in Portland stone. Around the pedestal is a raised inscription which reads from the front TRANSVAAL/ CAPE COLONY/ ORANGE FREE STATE/ NATAL.

Below this inscription the decorated pediment faces are carved with a design incorporating crossed rifles and the British Colonial pattern helmet. Immediately below the pediment are dentils and a frieze of garland swags, below which a further inscription reads from the front GREATER LOVE HATH NO/ MAN THAN THIS THAT/ A MAN LAY DOWN HIS/ LIFE FOR HIS FRIENDS.

The red granite panel on the front face of the plinth is decorated with a carving of the Borough Arms, in low relief, below which the principal dedicatory inscription reads ERECTED/ BY/ PUBLIC SUBSCRIPTION/ IN MEMORY/ OF/ SOLDIERS/ OF THIS BOROUGH/ WHO FELL IN THE/ SOUTH AFRICAN/ CAMPAIGN. The other faces of the plinth carry the lists of the 56 men of the borough who fell in the war. They include those who died of wounds or sickness as well as those killed in action.

Each face of the upper stage of the base bears the dates 1899 – 1902. On the middle stage of the base, a small wreath is carved in low relief on each face. The lowest stage of the base is moulded and rusticated. The base of the memorial is enclosed by a stone kerb with eight low moulded pillars.

This List entry has been amended to add sources for War Memorials Online and the War Memorials Register. These sources were not used in the compilation of this List entry but are added here as a guide for further reading, 18 January 2017.

Sources

Books and journals
Noszlopy, GT, Waterhouse, F, Public Sculpture of Staffordshire and the Black Country, (2005)

Websites
Roll of Honour - Dudley Boer War, accessed 22/02/2016 from www.roll-of-honour.com/Worcestershire/DudleyBoerWar.html
University of Glasgow, Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain and Ireland 1851-1951, accessed 08/04/2016 from http://sculpture.gla.ac.uk/view/person.php?id=msib4_1223306277
War Memorials Register, accessed 18 January 2017 from http://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/17448
War Memorials Online, accessed 18 January 2017 from https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/149328

End of official list entry

All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.

Print the official list entry