Vale War Memorial benefits from specialist clean-up

The work was instigated by Vice Dean Bill Cohu (pictured above) who, with wife Denise, has been instrumental in looking after the memorial garden area for years.

"We noticed the memorial itself was showing signs of staining and weathering and that the lettering on the names of those who gave their lives in the last two world wars was fading," said Mr Cohu.

"It just seemed right and respectful to their memories that we looked at how best to maintain this historic monument."

Following consultation and advice with Guernsey Heritage Services, Lance Vaudin, of Vaudin Stonemasons, was awarded the contract to maintain the monument and followed the guidelines from Heritage Services.

Significant value
"War memorials hold significant value for the community and commemorate the loss of that community in the past. It is important that the war memorial looks cared for, but it is also a historical monument and ensuring its longevity through appropriate care, maintenance and repair is crucial," the guidelines stated.

"Cleaning is part of that maintenance, but it should not be done to simply restore the memorial to an ‘as new’ or pristine condition as that level of cleaning is likely to be damaging. Imperfections and signs of ageing and deterioration are part of the memorials intrinsic value. A balance should be struck between accepting the inevitable effects of the passage of time and maintaining a dignified and cared-for appearance."

Mr Cohu said the douzaine was obviously happy to follow the Heritage advice and was very pleased with the outcome, thanking Lance Vaudin for the care with which he'd treated the cleaning and relettering needed on the memorial. 

• Heritage has also advised that any wreaths or crosses should be removed after Remembrance Day once a respectful amount of time has passed to prevent "ghosting" on the stone (clean patches underneath the crosses). 

Memorial facts

 It was erected after the 1914-18 conflict to commemorate the 121 men and women of the Vale who died in the Great War. More names were added following the ending of the Second World War in 1945 and the Liberation of the island from German Occupation on May 9 that year.

It consists of a tapering, four-sided granite obelisk. At the top it features a small, wheel cross and then from top to bottom, on the front the obelisk (south face), it is decorated with the word PAX (peace), a raised image of sword, wreath and coat of arms.  The obelisk is set on a square granite plinth, with bevelled top. This sits on a further low, granite plinth.

There is a dedication in gold lettering on the front of the obelisk:

Names, in black, are inscribed on the other 3 sides of the obelisk 

A bronze plaque is fixed on the top of the upper plinth, which says:

The upper plinth is also inscribed with 1939 – 1945 and two columns of names, which are painted black.