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Prestonpans War Memorial

Memorial
Prestonpans War Memorial
Photo: Eirian Evans, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Original Geograph photograph · Report the wrong picture

What is recorded here

Prestonpans War Memorial is William Birnie Rhind's seven-foot sandstone figure of a thoughtful soldier from the 8th Royal Scots, unveiled before about 1,500 people in 1922. The pedestal first carried 143 local First World War names; later panels added Second World War deaths, corrections and people found through new…

Read the whole record

Prestonpans War Memorial is William Birnie Rhind's seven-foot sandstone figure of a thoughtful soldier from the 8th Royal Scots, unveiled before about 1,500 people in 1922. The pedestal first carried 143 local First World War names; later panels added Second World War deaths, corrections and people found through new local research.

Why it was made

The parish raised the memorial after the First World War to name 143 local dead and placed their alphabetical list in a small public square on the High Street.

People and events

Edinburgh sculptor William Birnie Rhind made the pensive Royal Scots soldier, and a crowd reported at about 1,500 watched the unveiling on 30 April 1922.

How it worked

The uniformed figure leans on his rifle above a nine-foot Duddingston-stone pedestal, bringing a recognisable local battalion soldier over the ordered names below.

What remains

The sculpture and pedestal survive after stone repair and restored railings in 2016–17; newer wall panels added 75 First World War and twelve Second World War names.

Why it mattered

The memorial has remained an active local record rather than a fixed old list, with conservation restoring lost details and later research adding overlooked people and corrections.

Sources for this account

Sources checked 16 August 2026.

From OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors) n5576386115

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Recorded date
1922
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Photo credits
  • Richard Webb, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0
  • Eirian Evans, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0
  • James Denham, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0
  • Mr H, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0
  • Anne Burgess, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0
  • Richard Webb, Wikimedia Commons
  • Lisa Jarvis, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0
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