Hove War Memorial

Hove War Memorial stands on Grand Avenue in the coastal city of Brighton and Hove. It is a First World War monument designed by the architect Sir Edwin Lutyens. The memorial marks a place where Hove’s community gathered early in the war to recruit volunteers. Over six hundred men from the town lost their lives during the conflict, a quarter of them from the local Royal Sussex Regiment. A committee formed in 1919 chose Lutyens to create the design after two earlier proposals were rejected. The memorial was unveiled in February 1921 by Lord Leconfield, with Lutyens represented by his office manager. The monument consists of a Tuscan column topped with a bronze statue of Saint George. The statue, cast in Sir George Frampton’s studio, holds a sword by the blade and a shield. It is one of several similar figures Frampton produced for war memorials across England. The column’s base carries inscriptions for both world wars but no individual names. Instead, 631 names are recorded on brass plaques in Hove Library. The design was agreed in 1920 after public objections to earlier ideas, including a cenotaph and an obelisk. Visitors find a tall column rising from three stone steps beside low bollards and modern lamp pillars. Saint George stands on a plinth at the top, wearing Renaissance-style armour. The north face bears the main dedication to Hove’s war dead, while the south quotes the biblical phrase ‘Their name liveth for evermore’. The memorial’s setting on Grand Avenue places it between the statue of Queen Victoria and the northern end of the avenue. Its restrained elegance contrasts with the scale of the road, creating a quiet focus for remembrance.