There is minimal information available about the commissioning of the Leeds Rifles Memorial, which is not untypical for Lutyens’s regimental memorials.  Unlike towns and villages across the country, disputes between those involved were uncommon and fundraising was relatively straightforward.

 

The memorial is Lutyens’s familiar War Cross, but its location is unusual, being mounted on top of a retaining wall alongside Kirkgate in the city centre.  It is the only occasion when the architect used one of his “standard” crosses for a regimental memorial.

 

The memorial was unveiled by Capt G Sanders, VC, MC of the regiment on 13 November 1921.  He had been awarded the former for conspicuous bravery on the opening day of the Battle of the Somme.

 

 

Location: Church of St Peter, Kirkgate, Leeds, LS2 7