Morriston War Memorial was unveiled c.1920 by the Lord Lieutenant of the County of Glamorgan, the Right Hon. The Earl of Plymouth, and dedicated by Rev. Canon Griffith Thomas, Vicar of Llangyfelach. It was designed by Louis Frederick Roslyn who designed several Great War memorials around the UK. He is perhaps best known for his sculpture of Edward VII at Tooting Broadway. The memorial at Morriston is located within the small gardens area of the Morriston Park and consists of a bronze statue of a female figure (‘Peace’) with winged head-dress, standing on a high classicising granite plinth. The Peace figure originally held in the left hand a winged figure of Victory, and in the right hand a sword covered with a branch of laurel signifying Victory gained through sacrifice, but these are no longer evident. There are inscriptions to front and rear in English and Welsh, and to sides, names of those lost in World Wars. On the front are the words: 'ER GOGONIANT I DDUW AC MEWN DIOLCHGAR A GOGONEDDUS COF AM WRONIAID TREFORUS AR CYLCH A SYRTHIODD DROS EU BRENIN, EU GWLAD, A CHYFIAWNDER, YN Y RHYFEL MAWR, 1914-1918. A PHAN FACHLUDA'R HAUL AC Y TYR Y WAWR, EU HENWAU BYTH A GOFIR. 1939-1945'. On the back are the words: 'TO THE GLORY OF GOD AND IN GRATEFUL AND GLORIOUS MEMORY OF THE HEROES OF MORRISTON AND DISTRICT WHO FELL FOR THEIR KING, THEIR COUNTRY, AND RIGHTEOUSNESS IN THE GREAT WAR, 1914-1918. AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN AND IN THE MORNING, WE WILL REMEMBER THEM. 1939-1945'
Meilyr Powel, RCAHMW, November 2020
Source:
'Morriston and District', iwm.org.uk/memorials
'Morriston War Memorial', warmemorialsonline.org.uk
Site visits by M. Powel, RCAHMW, September-October 2020.