Summary
Boer War memorial, 1905.
Reasons for Designation
Nuneaton Boer War Memorial, which stands in Riversley Park, 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 sacrifices it made in the Boer War;
* Sculptural interest: as a monument to those who died in the Boer War, incorporating a statue of a soldier in contemporary uniform, it is a relative rarity.
History
Whilst the earliest outdoor war memorials in Britain were erected following the end of the Crimean War in 1855, the practice of erecting monuments to fallen soldiers did not become more widespread until the Second South African War (1899-1902), commonly called the Boer War. This was the first conflict in which Volunteer and Yeomanry units served overseas: some 54,000 British volunteers fought in the Boer War, which had a significant impact at home as more than 22,000 men died. The Imperial War Museum’s War Memorials Register records nearly 2,000 Boer War memorials, many of which are tablets and plaques put up to individual combatants, but include Regimental monuments, and memorials raised by towns and counties to their lost citizens.
Details
MATERIALS: Bronze sculpture, granite plinth.
End of official list entry
