Refurbishment work starts on Clitheroe’s historic war memorial
Refurbishment work has got underway at the town’s war memorial in the grounds of Clitheroe Castle.
The work will be completed in time for the annual Remembrance Sunday service, which this year takes place on Sunday, November 9th – with further acts of remembrance taking place on Armistice Day – Tuesday, November 11th.
During the restoration work, scaffolding will be erected, meaning the memorial will not be accessible to members of the public for until mid-October.
The refurbishment process is being undertaken by a Manchester-based firm of bronze restoration specialists after a survey highlighted some maintenance priorities with the memorial. The entire structure will be professionally cleaned and refurbished – including the three plaques bearing the names of the fallen – with the full costs met by the town council.
The memorial – featuring a full-size bronze stature of a grenadier guard – was erected in August 1923 and the town council looks after the memorial and surrounding gardens in conjunction with Ribble Valley Borough Council.
Clitheroe Town Mayor Coun. Michael Graveston said: “A routine survey revealed some issues with the war memorial that required urgent remedial work and the Town Council was unanimous in allocating funds to ensure the work was completed in a timely manner.”
“The restoration team will be on site for several days, but we have received undertakings from the contractors that the work will be completed in time for the services of Remembrance in November.”
The memorial came about after the town bought Clitheroe Castle grounds in 1920 for £9,500 from the Clitheroe Estate Company to serve as a memorial for the 260 townsmen lost in the First World War.