Description
Situated in West View Park, Warley Road, Halifax. A proud soldier dressed in the uniform of an officer in the Boer War with binoculars in one hand and holding a rifle in the other. The bronze statue sculptured by Benjamin Shepherd of Chelsea tops the 76ft high monument. Below is a circular frieze of cavalrymen in full battle - sculptor AF Smith [Keighley?]. Below this is a part marble circular plinth with stone carved motifs. This all stands on a square base which had three copper plaques with the names of 2 soldiers who died in Afghan Wars and 73 soldiers who died in South African Wars [1899-1902]. Names include Sergeant A. Bottomley a member of Kitchener's Bodyguard. Other names are recorded.
Unveiled on 7th November 1904, in 1937, the statue was blown over in a storm. A balustrade from the eastern side of Halifax Town Hall was removed and placed around the memorial sometime in the 20th century. Three field guns stood by the statue until 1937 when the supporting woodwork was found to be rotten. The memorial is a grade II listed monument.