Stroud Showground Great War Memorial Grandstand

The Stroud Showground Great War Memorial Grandstand was erected to commemorate those from the district who served in the First World War. Three white marble tablets are attached to the yellow painted wall at the front entrance to the grandstand steps. The centre tablet is inscribed with the dedication, the other two tablets contain an honour roll with 129 names of those who served in the First World War. These tablets have been replicated and placed alongside other plaques at the Stroud Cenotaph. 

At a public meeting in January 1925 a vote was carried to erect a grandstand on Stroud Park as a soldiers’ memorial. Earlier proposals for a memorial had included memorial gates leading into Stroud Park, which was eventually abandoned. A second proposal ensued for a street monument and funds were raised, a site was selected by Stroud Council in August 1921, but the project lay dormant for some years until 1924. In 1925 consent was given for the project by the Minister for Local Government, but the community decided the funds should be used to erect the grandstand (Dungog Chronicle: Durham and Gloucester Advertiser, 5 May 1925).

Tenders for construction of the memorial grandstand were called for by the secretary of the Stroud Sailors and Soldiers’ League in early 1926. Construction of the grandstand was completed in the same year with the structure quickly being put to good use at the Showground (Dungog Chronicle: Durham and Gloucester Advertiser, 26 October 1926).

The exact dedication date for the opening of the grandstand has not been identified.