Cheadle, Staffordshire, Memorial to the Men and Animals of the Great War

This memorial can be seen at the towns main car park off Tape Street.
It was unveiled on Friday 24th April 2016


This unique memorial sculpture by local blacksmith Jim Plant has been designed with great thought and attention to detail. Each element of the sculpture has meaning as well as being visually stunning. At the peak of the sculpture is a finial with the Staffordshire Knot and the dates of the war. The main and central part of the sculpture is a soldier on horseback signifying the men and horses from Cheadle which served in the Great War. More than 80 horses went to war but only one returned. The outer circle contains smaller 3D cameos of animals including a donkey, mule, pigeon, dog, camel and elephant. All of these animals contributed significantly to the war effort and where possible their function is also depicted. Being an owner of dogs and donkeys Jim is passionate about the contribution those animals made in the war. Above the cameos are 2 combined red and purple poppies, the national symbol for fallen man and animal respectively. The 5 foot diameter sculpture sits above an 8 foot plinth which allows the sculpture to be silhouetted against a light sky for full effect.


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