Taunton's Vivary Park war memorial improvement work starts

Images captured at the 2025 Wreath Placing in Vivary Park. <i>(Image: Taunton Town Council)</i>
Images captured at the 2025 Wreath Placing in Vivary Park. (Image: Taunton Town Council)
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The war memorial in Taunton’s Vivary Park will be fenced off until the middle of next month after repair work began this week.

The 104-year-old, 26-foot-high monument is being stabilised over the coming four weeks.

The steps are being temporarily removed and then repositioned during the work.

The immediate area has also been fenced off.

The scheme had been delayed until Monday, August 17, to allow the annual VJ Day commemorations marking victory over Japan in 1945 to take place on Saturday.

Wreaths, including those laid at the weekend, have been moved to the nearby memorial bench.

Cllr Mike Best, chairman of Somerset Council, which manages the memorial, said: “It is an important historic monument and close to the hearts of people in Taunton and the wider area.

“​​We must maintain it so that it can continue to play its part in Remembrance events.”

The memorial was originally installed in Vivary Park to remember more than 400 residents who made the ultimate sacrifice in the First World War.

Since then, it has been inscribed with the names of those lost in subsequent conflicts, including the Second World War.

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