Work to restore and refurbish Builth Wells’ war memorial is well underway

Stonemason Jonathan Protheroe of William Protheroe Limited in Llangunllo near Knighton started work on the memorial in August.

Town clerk Louise Hammond previously told the town council that the work would take two to three months.

It will include Jonathan carrying out work on the sky face as the soldiers are crumbling away and he will also clean and do some pointing work on the memorial.

At a recent meeting, Mrs Hammond said; “Jonathan is working on the memorial in blocks. He is an experienced stonemason and he is taking out stone blocks which need work and taking them back to his workshop, carrying out the work and then replacing the blocks.

“He will also do the same procedure near where the soldiers are on the memorial.”

This memorial was unveiled in July 1924 to commemorate the men of Builth Wells and Llanddewi’r Cwm who had died in the First World War.

The names of those who died in the Second World War were added later.

The figures around the memorial represent the Army, Royal Navy, Mercantile Marine and Royal Air Force.

The memorial was restored in 2019 with help from Heritage Lottery Fund, Cadw and the Powys War Memorials Project.

The memorial is made from three types of stone. The basal steps are locally sourced greywacke - a dark, hard sandstone with a clay matrix. The figures are carved in Portland Stone from the Whit Bed, Dorset. The rest of the monument is of Doulting Stone from Somerset.

William Protheroe Ltd is a family-run business that produces hand-carved stone memorials, plaques and sculptures. 

They have been using traditional methods and tools since 1848, bringing out the natural beauty of this material in a way that the use of modern techniques and equipment can never hope to equal.

Members noted and welcomed the news.