Honouring the Fallen (online event)

This illustrated talk by Dr Roger Bowdler looks at the origins, symbolism and design of war memorials and explores the attitudes brought to them today, a century on from the Armistice. Many are conventional: but others display a poignant recognition of the enormous losses suffered by the nation, and designers rose to the challenge of expressing widespread grief in a variety of ways. Where did the war memorial come from? Who got to choose what sort of memorial was erected? Why are they still the focus of such attention? These are some of the topics to be considered.

This is the first of two events relating to the community heritage project, A County Remembers. Later in the spring there will be a seminar style event, looking in detail at a variety of memorials from across Hertfordshire. Discussion welcome!

Roger Bowdler worked at English Heritage/Historic England for 28 years and now works as a heritage planning consultant. He led the project to list 2,500 war memorials as part of the government’s response to the First World War centenary, and has been a trustee of the War Memorials Trust. He is the author of War Memorials and Churchyards (Amberley Press, 2019) and is currently working on a study of the British Cemetery, 1820-2020.

The event is on the 23rd March and it will be an online live streamed event. This event cost is £6.

The event starts at 7:30pm and will be 1 hour long. There are 40 spaces available, and booking will be required.

For more information visit https://www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/services/libraries-and-archives/hertfordshire-archives-and-local-studies/events/events/fa527313-a5f0-4155-8031-914a5436f3e0