Joy as War Memorial is Rededicated
On Saturday 14th April 2012 a service of rededication took place at Prestbury War Memorial. The sun shone as the official procession led by the piper, Mr Tom Neilly, left St Mary's Church to walk to the newly restored War Memorial. The service of rededication was led by the Bishop of Tewkesbury, John Went, almost ninety two years to the day when the original War Memorial was dedicated. A large crowd of nearly 200 people gathered to hear his address, amongst them were members of the team who had worked on the Memorial together with their families.
Work had begun almost immediately to restore Prestbury's World War I Memorial which was vandalised in November 2011 as agreed and planned by Prestbury Parish Council and Meister Masonry of Painswick, who kindly restored the spire of the memorial at no cost to the Parish Council. Meisters prepared and shaped the replacement spire using the same Box Ground Bath Stone that was used to make the original. The quarry where the stone was mined had recently come back into production after being closed for more than 50 years.
The intricate Lantern Cross figurines were carved after clay figurines had been prepared for approval by the Parish Council. The process had been made possible through all the many pictures and information that the public sent in response to the appeal for help in identifying the eroded figures of Jesus, Mary, St George & The Dragon and King David and reference to other works of John Coates Carter who designed the original War Memorial.
WORLD WAR II MEMORIAL
The Parish Council began looking at ideas for a new memorial to commemorate the fallen of World War II. Funding that was raised to help pay for the restoration of the World War I Memorial before the generous offer of Meister's was made have been matched by the Parish Council towards the cost of this and major sponsors will be asked if they wish to honour their pledges in respect of a new memorial and its costs.
Initial ideas for a new memorial were explored in conjunction with Meister. Several design drawings were submitted but following a request to revisit the idea of incorporating the names of the World War II fallen onto the existing Memorial the Parish Council is currently exploring that option further before going out to public consultation.
Coverage of the rededication service and related stories :
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-17725190
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-17567964
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-17689718 (Video)