Boer War Memorial 1899-1902

Spotted this new addition to Park Life today. I'm afraid this chap is a pale shadow of his predecessor to my mind. The original statue erected in 1903, and paid for by public subscription, was an all action hero carrying the standard and charging ahead pistol drawn. A quote from the time was that it was erected as `a memorial which should be for all time, a monument to the bravery of Wigan’s soldiers’.

Sadly it was removed from the Park in 1968 after becoming badly damaged by nature, industry and vandalism, leaving only the original stone plinth which is all I've ever known. No-one knows what happened to the original statue but apparently the hunt for it still continues.

The original all action hero