Memorial details
- Memorial type
- Serviceman / Servicewoman
- District
- Wigan
- Town
- Wigan
- County
- Greater Manchester
- Country
- England
- Commemoration
- Boer War; Second (1899-1902)
- Ceremony
- Unveiled
Date: 4 February 1903
Attended by: Sir Francis Sharp Powell MP
- Unveiled
- Lost
- Lost
- WM Reference
- 18517
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Current location
View location on Google Maps- Previous locations
- In front of the Pavilion
Mesnes Park
Parson's Walk
Wigan
Wigan
Greater Manchester
WN1 1TU
England
OS Grid Ref: SD 57916 06396
Denomination: Undefined
- In front of the Pavilion
- Description
- Inscribed granite plinth, originally surmounted by a highly detailed statue in Carrara marble of an officer in Boer War campaign uniform and slouch hat holding a bronze banner and pistol. The statue was removed in 1968 following damage resulting from pollution and vandalism, leaving only the plinth still in place. A replacement statue (recorded on this database as memorial number 78731) was erected on the plinth in 2013 by the Friends of Wigan's Boer War Memorial, with the support of the public and grants from various bodies.
- Inscription
- THIS MEMORIAL / WAS ERECTED BY PUBLIC SUBSCRIPTION / TO THE MEMORY OF / THE MEN BELONGING TO THE REGULAR / VOLUNTEER AND IMPERIAL YEOMANRY FORCES / OF WIGAN AND DISTRICT / WHO FELL IN THE SOUTH AFRICAN WAR / 1899-1902
- Inscription legible?
- yes
- Commemorations
- Boer War; Second (1899-1902)
Total names on memorial: 0
Served and returned: 0
Died: 0
Exact count: yes
Information shown: Undefined
Order of information: Undefined
- Boer War; Second (1899-1902)
- Components
- Plinth
Measurements: Undefined
Materials: Granite - Figure
Measurements: Undefined
Materials: Stone
- Plinth
- Condition
- Boer War Memorial
- WMO ID: 196911
- Condition: Good [last updated on 30-10-2018]
- Help update these details if the condition is wrong
- History
- 1968: The sword, flag and revolver attached to the statue had been repeatedly stolen, and the statue was showing signs of decay caused by pollution and weathering. As a result, the statue was removed by the council, leaving only the plinth in place. 2008: Volunteers try to find the original statue, thought to have been dumped in the Mesnes Park compost heap, but fail. 2009: Planning application submitted for the restoration of Mesnes Park: part of the proposed work includes the moving of the plinth to the Parson's Walk entrance. Local groups and residents oppose this move. 2010: Fundraising efforts ongoing to provide a replacement statue. 2013: Replacement statue erected.
- Trust fund/Scholarship
- No
Purpose: Unknown or N/A - Sponsorship
- Public
Details: Public subscription organised by Councillor Fryans. - Responsibility
- Wigan District Council
- Reference
- "Past Forward" newsletter by Wigan Heritage Service, Issue 26, page 13: Article by J. A. Hilton "The strange case of the vanishing statue"£
- The Manchester Genealogist (The Journal of the Manchester & Lancashire Family History Society) Volume 36 No. 2, 2000, pages 93-111 for a long, detailed article on the Manchester Regiment in the Boer war which names all who served)
- Carter Postcard Collection
- "The Empty Plinth: Wigan's Missing Boer War Memorial" by Hilton, J. A. 2003 Published:Prodesse Publications 2003 Wigan
This record comprises all information held by IWM’s War Memorials Register for this memorial. Where we hold a names list for the memorial, this information will be displayed on the memorial record. Please check back as we are adding more names to the database.
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© WMR-18517
For queries, please contact [email protected].