Bayeux Memorial: Renovations & protection for the future

Renovation works have begun at the Bayeux Memorial to safeguard it for the future so it may continue forever commemorating the missing of the Normandy Campaign.

Safeguarding the Bayeux Memorial

In association with RMG Architectes, our project will take approximately four months will fix ongoing foundational and rainwater management issues, protecting the memorial for decades to come.

The Bayex Mmorial at night illuminated by lights under a pleasing navy blue night sky.

In association with RMG Architectes, our project will take approximately four months and will fix ongoing foundational and rainwater management issues, protecting the memorial for decades to come.

The existing foundations are undersized, causing structural defects. Injections of expanding resin will be used to consolidate and reinforce the soil’s load-bearing capacity, thereby strengthening and stabilising the foundations.

To prevent the stonework from being damaged, a new rainwater system will be installed. Gutters will be installed behind the memorial to collect and divert rainfall away from the memorial. A drain will be installed too to help improve drainage.

Aerial view of Bayeux War Cemetery and Memorial showing rows of headstones, tree planted avenues, and the Stone of Remembrance in the cente of the cemetery. Set to the back of the site, across a road bisecting the cemetery, sits the Roman-esque Bayeux Memorial.

Horticulture will play a role in safeguarding the Bayeux Memorial. As part of the rain protection system, a 3-metre area of vegetation to the rear will be cleared and a new root barrier installed to protect the rain collection structures.

Small trees and shrubs surrounding the area will also be removed, with evergreen shrubs planted in their place. Further horticultural improvements will be made to the wider Bayeux Cemetery site, including the removal of lime trees, replaced by a variety of new species.

Bayeux Memorial close up of stone masonry and name panels, showing weathering and wear and tear after years of exposure to the Normandy weather.

In addition, our expert stonemasons and maintenance teams will be hard at work repairing and cleaning stonework and name panels where necessary, in addition to examining, polishing, and mending metalwork and wooden fixtures.

These measures will ensure the Bayeux Memorial, which has stood since 1955, will remain the primary point of commemoration for 1,795 Commonwealth servicemen of D-Day and the Normandy Campaign who sadly have no known grave.

We will share more updates as the works progress. Please keep an eye on our social media channels or subscribe to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission newsletter for more information on this and our other projects.