🗽 Promenade de Verdun War Memorial

The Promenade de Verdun War Memorial is a First World War memorial in the garden village of Woodcote, Purley, in the London Borough of Croydon, England. It was designed by a local surveyor, William Webb, who had laid out the garden village in the early 20th century. Webb determined on a memorial to the soldiers of France who were killed in the First World War; as a commemoration of their sacrifice, and as a means to foster good relations between the United Kingdom and the Republic of France. The memorial consists of a 0.5 km boulevard, lined with Lombardy poplars planted in 10 tonnes of soil brought from France, and culminating in a 6m high obelisk carved from Cornish granite. The obelisk is inscribed; "AUX/ SOLDATS DE FRANCE/ MORTS GLORIEUSEMENT/ PENDANT LA GRAND GUERRE" and was unveiled in 1922. The stone is a Grade II listed structure and the setting is registered on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England.