War memorial to be cleaned and repaired

The Richmond Borough War Memorial was built in 1921

A market town's war memorial is set to be cleaned and repaired so the names of the fallen that it bears can remain legible.

Planning permission has been sought by North Yorkshire Council to carry out conservation work on the memorial in Richmond's Friary Gardens, which commemorates 101 local servicemen who died in World War One and 54 in World War Two.

It comes after an inspection in July revealed open and weathered mortar joints and biological growths, like moss, lichen and pollution crusts, on the base and carved ship motif.

Marcus Storey, from consultants Align Property Services, said those issues trapped moisture and obscured inscriptions, threatening the memorial's long‑term conservation.

In a report to the council's planning department, Mr Storey added: "The development therefore seeks to carry out minimal, sympathetic intervention to remove damaging deposits, repoint open joints in lime mortar and undertake very limited stone repairs, so that the memorial can continue to serve as a witness to the sacrifices of the local community."

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, only the base, steps, ship carving and plaques would be worked on.

The memorial will be cleaned and repaired using hand tools

The report added that hand tools would be used to make repairs and the lime repointing would be colour-matched to the existing mortar.

"Consequently, the works will subtly enhance legibility without altering the character or appearance of the memorial," it said.

The work was welcomed by Richmond councillor Stuart Parsons, who said: "It is great North Yorkshire Council is finally applying to clean the war memorial in Friary Gardens.

"Sadly, it has taken nearly a year to get to this stage. Hopefully, when the work is at long last completed, families will be able, once again, to find their families' names displayed with pride."

A decision on the planning application for the work is due to be taken in the coming weeks.

The memorial was built in 1921 at a cost of £1,100 after land was donated by Lord Zetland.

Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.