Memorials to servicemen who died in the First World War were erected soon after the end of the conflict.[1] Plans to build a permanent memorial at the University of Reading unfolded in 1919, when William Macbride Childs, the principal of the college, printed a pamphlet suggesting several ideas.[2] The final design was ultimately made by Herbert Maryon, a teacher of sculpture at the university;[2] he would later gain broad recognition in a second career at the British Museum, where he conserved many of the finds from the Sutton Hooship-burial, termed "the most important single discovery in British archaeology."[3] His initial proposal, made in 1919, was for a tower of 120 feet (37 m) that would have cost between £5,000 and £10,000.[1] The funds could not be raised, and in 1923 Maryon proposed a structure of half that height.[1][2] Construction began that November, and the memorial was dedicated the following June.[2] The finished memorial, which cost £2,750, is a 60-foot-tall (18 m) brick tower with a clock, a bell, and a bronze roll of honour listing the names of more than 140 people who died in the war.[2][4]
The scope of the memorial was expanded following the Second World War, and in May 1953 a panel with more than 70 names of the dead from that conflict was unveiled.[1][2][4][5] It now also commemorates those who died in the war in Afghanistan;[2] in 2012 a plaque was unveiled honouring Lieutenant ColonelRupert Thorneloe, MBE, a 1991 graduate of the University whose 2009 death made him the highest-ranking officer of the British Army killed in action since the Falklands War.[6]
On 12 February 1987, the memorial was designated a grade II listed building, a status given for its special architectural or historic interest.[7]
On 9 November 2018, the University of Reading announced plans to add nine additional names of servicemen who died in the First World War to the memorial.[8][9][10]
