The cenotaph is 25 feet high with a bronze group by Meredith Williams of a mounted crusader flanked by four infantrymen.
Paisley Daily Express, July 28th 1924 “The idea which the group is intended to convey is that our men in the great war in their splendid determination were animated by the same spirit as the Crusaders, and we’re striving towards an ideal similar to that which stimulated them.”
The monument was designed by Sir Robert Lorimer, the builders Messrs. Neil McLeod & Sons Limited, and the carving work carried out by Messrs. Allen & Sons, both of Edinburgh. The 228 tons of granite employed was supplied by the Shap Fells Granite Company in Westmorland.
Video of the official Unveiling of the War Memorial
The inscription reads:
“To the glorious memory of the 1,953 men of Paisley who gave their lives in the Great War.”
The memorial was unveiled in 1924 before a crowd of 20,000 which filled the square and the newspaper reported that there was a continuous stream of visitors walking around the monument throughout the following week.
Lots of photographs in our Facebook Gallery of Remembrance Day.