Bolton: Cenotaph to be illuminated after repair works

The flood lighting around the Cenotaph in Victoria Square has not worked properly for around five years, while the central cross has been unilluminated for a decade.

But the council has now announced that its street lighting team has finished work around restoring lighting around the much-admired monument.

Cabinet member for culture Cllr Nadeem Ayub said: “The cenotaph is an essential part of the town centre, which stands as a tribute to Bolton’s war heroes and as a symbol of our borough’s longstanding connection to the armed forces.

“Regrettably, for a number of years, this spectacular monument has been obscured from full view in the evenings.

The Cenotaph will now be illuminated again (Image: Bolton Council)

“The work to restore and improve the lighting is part of our ongoing commitment to make the most of Bolton’s many great heritage and cultural assets.”

The cenotaph was sculpted by John Hope and unveiled in Victoria Square in 1928 as a tribute to those who had died in the First World War.

Bronze sculptures on either side, depicting personified representations of “peace” and “war”, were added on either side by Walter Marsden in 1933.

Further inscriptions commemorating the lives lost in the Second World War were added later.

Ever since it was first unveiled, the cenotaph has been the centrepiece of Bolton’s annual remembrance events, and a focal point of many other civic occasions throughout the year.

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But in recent times a supply fault has been affecting the flood lighting, which has now been repaired along with the repairs to the central cross.

The council says that electricians carried out a series of repairs, replacements, and technical electrical work, while adhering to the rules for the restoration of listed monuments.

The repairs to the lighting around the cenotaph come alongside a wider programme of works on various landmarks and monuments around the town centre.

This has also included the repainting of the Market Cross on Churchgate, getting the clock on Bolton Train Station working again and restarting the Steam Engine monument.