War memorial repair and restoration project complete

Blue Mountains City Council’s Open Spaces and Recreation team have recently finished repairing and restoring three local war memorials. The memorials were all in need of significant work, owing to a combination of wear and tear over time, and vandalism.

Lawson War Memorial The Lawson Cenotaph was constructed in 1923 to honour those from the Lawson community who made the ultimate sacrifice during all the major twentieth century conflicts. Recent restoration work saw the installation of lead weatherings, cleaning of the sandstone blocks, re-gilding of the gold leaf lettering to the trachyte plates as well as installing a new piece of locally sourced trachyte with gold leaf lettering to replace the failing bronze Vietnam plaque.

Buckland War Memorial Buckland War Memorial, erected circa 1950, honours those who gave their lives in service to their country. The memorial was recently repaired and refurbished following an act of vandalism. The works were undertaken by local contractors who sourced local sandstone which was then used to repair the archway and the supporting sandstone plinth. 

Blackheath War Memorial Erected circa 1929, the Blackheath War Memorial contains 76 names of local men who served overseas in the First World War, including six who died on active service. Recent works included the necessary replacement of the holly hedge (required under the Biosecurity Act 2015), and replacement with a camellia sasanqua hedge. Other works also included upgrades to accessibility, landscaping and maintenance repairs to the War Memorial itself.

Blue Mountains Mayor Mark Greenhill said: “The work recently completed to restore these local war memorials is really quite phenomenal. Meticulous care was taken to ensure that the historical and social history of the Blue Mountains is retained.

“These local war memorials are central features of our towns and villages, and they are precious to us all.

“They pay respect to those who put their country and their fellow countrymen and women before themselves. They are an ode to those who fought so we can have the freedoms we take for granted today.

“So it’s important that they’re respected and maintained in a way that befits those whose names they hold. These restorations demonstrate the dedication of Council staff to honour those memories, and to do good work for every part of their community and City.”

Photo 1: recently restored Lawson War Memorial Photo 2: recently restored Buckland War Memorial Photo 3: recently restored Blackheath War Memorial