A new stone war memorial and gardens in Bury are set to be finished by the end of the year, despite changes to the design due to ‘the pandemic and Brexit’.
The memorial, which is being built close to the existing stone cross at St Paul’s church in Ramsbottom, will install new stone plinths to display the names of those from the town who fell in conflict during the two world wars and other conflicts.
The project is a partnership between community interest group Proffitts and Bury Council, who own the land.
Changes to the original plans have been lodged with planning authorities this week after difficulties were encountered in getting sandstone blocks of the required size to fulfil the original plans.
A statement by Proffitts, said: “It was proposed to create the new war memorial from sandstone, carved with the names of those who fell in conflict.
“This new memorial was to be created by 14 large separate blocks of stone, butted together, forming two quarter circles to the rear of the existing memorial.
“However, due to the combination of the pandemic and Brexit, it has been impossible to get sufficient quality stone at this size.
“The application for amendment for the new memorial ensures the overall dimensions of the new memorials will be the same, the style and appearance will not change.
“However, each of the 14 segments of the memorial will be created from two separate pieces of stone.
“From the front of the memorial and the rear there will be no discernible difference in the appearance.
“It will only be visible from the site.”
The application said that work was set to start on the second phase of the project in November.
Work already completed at the Bridge Street site in the spring included resurfacing and edging the paths and improving boundary walls.
Shrubs along the boundary were removed in preparation for new planting.
The existing war memorial has been cleaned and the lettering highlighted.
The work is to be completed by the end of December 2021 includes tree planting along boundaries, shrub planting to the north of the site and installation of the new war memorial.
The memorial will have engraved the names of around 500 service personnel from the old urban district of Ramsbottom who gave their lives in conflict.
Research to provide the list of names from various sources and other memorials in the area has been going on since 2011.
