The Allward War Memorial

Two statuesque figures guard the shore of the river commons below the City’s main intersection of Ontario and Erie streets. This is the war memorial inaugurated on December 6, 1922, to honour those lost in the Great War (WWI). It was designed by the man who would earn fame as the designer of the Vimy Memorial: Walter Allward. The Stratford monument was moved to its present location in 1961, from the corner of Erie and Ontario Streets.

The sculpture was commissioned for $25,000, with a sizable sum of $19,000 secured by citizen donations (the remainder came from municipal grants). This speaks to the commitment of local Stratfordians to memorializing the past. But this was by no means a monument that glorified the War. Its central figures, like those that would later adorn the Vimy site, call to mind sorrow and a determination to avoid the waste of war in the future. 

The Allward memorial, through its beauty and its message, as well as through the means of its financing, creates a space in the downtown core that encourages reflection, inclusion and civic action.

The River Above the River Below is a vision inspired by the Provocations Ideas Festival. 

Introduction | Shakespearean Gardens  | Orr Dam | Allward Monument | The Tom | Festival Theatre | The Lookout | Healing Waters | Island  | Gallery Pathways | North Shore | TJ Dolan Pathway | Conclusion