A NEW memorial to Swindon soldiers killed in the First World War will be installed in the GWR Park.
The sculpture, made from five steel panels, will feature cut-out designs of a war horse’s head, Lee Enfield rifle, gun carriage wheel and the red cross of the Swindon Royal Army Medical Corps.
South Swindon Parish Council has commissioned the £10,000 sculpture, which will be installed in the Faringdon Road park opposite new benches.
Artist Mike Pringle said the pointed steel panels would be redolent of the sharp rooftops of the GWR works, described by soldier and Swindon author Alfred Williams as looking like the teeth of a giant saw blade.
Some members of the parish council working party set up to discuss the council’s celebrations for the First World War centenary had concerns about a gun being included in the designs. However, others felt strongly the gun was an important part of the sculpture, a report prepared for the most recent meeting of South Swindon Parish Council said.
Councillors will attend memorial events at the cenotaph and Radnor Street Cemetery on November 11.
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