Restoration work to bring the Poole Municipal War Memorial and other historic features in Poole Park back to their former glory has begun.
The War Memorials form the centre piece of Poole Park, and include the Poole Cross (World War I and World War II), the Burma Star and Mountbatten obelisk in the rose bed and the adjacent memorial gates. This year marks the centenary of World War I with the renovation work set to improve access and ensure these structures are well preserved for future generations.
The War Memorial Gates have been removed by contractors, Hall Conservation Ltd, for extensive cleaning and restoration. This includes the fabrication of new iron details, such as leaves and scrolls to restore damaged pieces. Work so far has concentrated on using a specialist steam cleaner to remove years of dirt and grime from the brick and stone work (pictures below left)
Scaffolding was erected this week around the Municipal War Memorial to allow for the re-pointing of the obelisk shaft, replacing old and broken stonework and the extensive cleaning of the memorial (below right).
The plinth at the base of the memorial is generally in good condition but requires some replacement bricks. These have been sourced from one of the few remaining hand-made brickworks in the country in Swanage. We will be explaining this process, how the original bricks were made and the process of hand-making bricks in a fuller news feature soon. We will also be explaining this on our Heritage Guided Walk on Saturday 12th May.
In the Autumn a second phase of improvements will see new additions including the laying of Purbeck stone paving and creation of a new accessible entrance in to the park from Parkstone Road that leads to the war memorials.
All of these proposals are largely preventative maintenance, but require specialist works to ensure the quality and integrity of the war memorials is maintained and where possible improved. Funding has been made possible by a £31,000 grant from the War Memorials Trust and a proportion of a £2.7m grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund that will cover the landscape improvement elements.
