Elveden War Memorial

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This war memorial isn't actually in Thetford town - its several miles to the south west in Suffolk, but in travellers minds, its associated with driving into the Thetford and Thetford Forest area. The 30 metre high memorial is situated next to the busy A11 road on a crowded single carriageway section. Many travellers on their way to the Norfolk Broads, the Norfolk coast, or to Norwich, are in too much of a hurry to stop and find out what it actually is.

Well, its a memorial to those who served and died during World War One, the Great War - from three villages, Elveden, Eriswell, and Icklingham - located here, where the boundaries of the three parishes meet.

I actually saw this in the summer of 2005, I was suprised on how big it is & how close to the main road, a truly spectacular memorial.

( Photo © Copyright Keith Evans and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence: creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/. Origin of the photo: www.geograph.org.uk/photo/694750 )
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Coordinates:   52°22'2"N   0°37'29"E

Comments

  • i wondered if anyone knew the names on the monument
  • Going to be even closer to the road now! Driven past it today and the road s being widened to a dual carriageway. Almost needs a layby or car park there so people can stop ad appreciate the reason it is there.
  • I have been driving past it regularly for over 10 years ti visit my daughter. i always wanted to know what it stood for. today, I took the time to finally look it up.
  • i remember years ago when i was a kid going up the stairway and the door had been smashed in peeked in and the was a model in a uniform and othe regalia inside
  • My dad used to pick up my brother and me for our summer visits with him. This was our stop of point on our way to Norfolk for a cup of tea and a sandwich back in the 1960's.
  • Whats on the very top? There is a large urn shape and a smaller pine cone shaped on top of that. What is it ? What dose it symbolise?
  • Drove past for the first time yesterday 12/10/14 just had to look it up.
  • Stopped and looked 3 days ago. I was amazed at how recent it is: approaching it from the SW I had assumed it dated from the early 1800s. Strikingly impressive in a wonderful setting, except for the dreadful noise from the road: departed heroes deserve a little more peace. Incidentally (no surprise, this, as metric measurements are often crude approximations) the monument is 127 feet high---28' 5" higher than "30 metres".
  • saw it yesterday on my travels and wondered what it was!
  • I grew up in the Thetford area in the late 80s. Would pass this memorial all the time. Quite spectacular.
  • I too guessed the monument dated from the Napoleonic era, so was surprised to discover today that it is a WW1 memorial. Impressive though! I first passed it about 20 years ago on my way to Center Parcs, then again on my way bak from Norfolk today, so this time I thought I would investigate. At least the road has been dualled now, and that terrible crossroads removed! Keith Rylands
  • Was driving past the monument about 35 years ago heading for Yarmouth, it was about midnight, a strange thing happened that i have never forgotten, there were 3 lights high above the trees, just hovering, i checked to see if lights on poles had been erected, but there were none, ever since i have wondered what they could have been, especially now when Ufo sightings consist of 3 lights in a triangular formation, has anyone else experienced something similar.
  • Passamos lá há dois dias vindos de Norwich. É impressionante, mas verificamos que não é importante, pois não há possibilidade de parar na auto-via para ler o pedestal, e assim ficar a saber que é um monumento aos soldados de Elveden, Eriswell e Iklingham mortos na 1ª Guerra mundial
  • The A11 is now a dual carriageway but has laybys in each directions where there is usually snack vans serving hot food and drinks. There is also a underpass to the North of the Monument due to traffic passing at such high speed it is not safe to try crossing the road.
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This article was last modified 9 years ago