Acle – Jubilee Memorial

Located on Monument Green, which is named after this stone (the monument bit, not the green bit), is the Jubilee Memorial. This was placed here in 1887 to mark the Queen’s Golden Jubilee and it supports a cast iron lamp-post, an element which does today perhaps look just a little out of place.

The face of Queen Victoria is visible in the stonework, along with noting that Acle was equidistant between Great Yarmouth and Norwich, something I’m sure Alan Partridge would have been pleased to note.

The depiction in the stonework is of a camera, which would have been something of an innovation when it was being sculpted.

In addition to the sign about the Acle Bypass, there’s also a depiction of a train on the stonework.

Unfortunately, the stonework has been eroded, likely because of the pollution from what was a busy road next to it for over a century. There’s also a sign noting the victory in the Best Kept Village from over 20 years ago, making me suspect something has gone awry in the town for the last two decades if they haven’t won anything.

The memorial is visible in this photo from 1955, where the green wasn’t in such a good state and it was a considerably less peaceful area with the main Norwich to Great Yarmouth road storming through the middle of the town.