History

In 1918 Emily Charlotte Talbot of Margam Park donated a field in the town as a memorial for the dead of the 1st World War (1914-18). The park was laid out in its present form in 1925-6 having cost £13,000.

The bronzework is by the sculptor Louis Frederick Roslyn (1878 - 1949), born in London. He studied at the Royal Academy schools in London and exhibited between 1904 and 1940 at a wide range of venues including at the Royal Academy 42 times. His work consisted mainly of bronze busts, and he undertook a number of military busts for the Imperial War Museum. His commissions include a war memorial for the British West Indies, a bust of Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (Queen Mother), and one entitled the Triumph of Labour, a gift of the workers of Great Britain to the workers of America, to be erected in Washington DC. He also exhibited under his former name, L Fritz van Roselieb.

The plinth is by the architects Lanchester, Lucas and Lodge and is of Scottish granite, the same source as for Balmoral Castle.

Exterior

Square-section pillar of unpolished granite supporting a bronze statue. Raised fields to the 4 faces of the pillar, with bands at top and bottom, for the attachment of bronze plaques. Flat projecting capstone with cyma moulding to underside, supporting a stone plinth on which the statue rests. The pillar is on a tall stepped base with banded rustication and hollow moulding around the top. On a wide 3-tier stone platform, with a semi-circular projection to the centre of each step.

The tall bronze statue is of the Angel of Victory, holding a wreath in one hand and a small winged victory in the other. The sculptor's name is inscribed on the bronze base, L F Roslyn 1925. A rectangular bronze plaque is mounted on each face of the pillar, each with a scene in relief. That to the front (S) has a wreath in high relief, and a band set behind with '1914 1918'. Below is an inscription 'To the glory of God in memory of our honoured dead who fell in the Great War'. A short rectangular bronze tablet has been inserted beneath the raised panel and reads in relief 'Also / 1939 - 1945'.

The remaining panels represent war, peace and remembrance. The E panel bears a figure of a naked young man loosely veiled by a sheet. He holds a sword in one hand and a wreath in the other. Behind the top of his head is a scene of men in action. To the N is a robed woman in relief (peace) flanked by a small child and a lamb. Doves fly in the sky above and underneath is an inscription 'The peace of God ...'. The final panel to the W bears a fully robed figure of remembrance bearing a lamp in one hand and a branch in the other. Above are scenes of soldiers bearing stretchers and lines of graveyard crosses.

Reasons for Listing

Listed grade II* as an exceptionally fine war memorial, the bronze sculpture of particular artistic and iconographic interest. Group value with other features in the park.

External Links

• Cadwr Listing
• Port Talbot War Memorial at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q17740925

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  [(Shropshire)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1958)
• 
  Pevsner's Architectural Glossary (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
• 
  Worcestershire Revised Edition (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Historic Environment Law: Planning, Listed Buildings, Monuments, Conservation Areas and Objects by Harwood, Richard (2012) Paperback
• 
  Historic Environment Law: Planning, Listed Buildings, Monuments, Conservation Areas and Objects, Supplement 2014
• 
  Essex: Buildings of England Series (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)