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100 years of Jersey's Cenotaph

100 years of Jersey's Cenotaph

Sunday 12 November 2023

100 years of Jersey's Cenotaph

Sunday 12 November 2023


As Remembrance Sunday is set to be marked at parish cenotaphs across the island today, Express takes a look back at the history of the St Helier Cenotaph...

Jersey's Cenotaph is a memorial to islanders who lost their lives in the two World Wars of the 20th century.

This year also marks the Cenotaph's centenary year.

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When was the Cenotaph unveiled?

The permanent memorial that we are all familiar with today was unveiled on the fifth anniversary of the Armistice in 1923.

What was used before that?

Jersey had a temporary wooden cenotaph for five years after the end of the Great War.

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What's the meaning behind the design of the Cenotaph?

The Cenotaph is constructed of grey granite from La Moye Quarries, St Brelade and was built on the place the temporary Cenotaph had sat.

It takes the form of an ornamental pedestal with pylon, supporting a sarcophagus in which is a chamber containing a roll of the names of those whose memory the Cenotaph perpetuates.

The chamber is hermetically sealed, and is covered with a carved wreath, also in granite.

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The whole structure is raised on a graduated platform forming the St Andrew's Cross, and on either end appear the dates '1914'1918'.

On the west side is the inscription: 'Our Glorious Dead. Their name liveth for evermore'.

On the east side is the inscription in French: 'Jersey a ses enfants morts pour la patrie'.

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