Conserving War Memorials Case Study: Differential Movement of Foundations Civilian Second World War Memorial, Abney Park Cemetery, Stoke Newington, London

This case study describes the options and chosen solution for the stabilisation of the Civilian War Memorial within Abney Park Cemetery, London. The memorial was sinking into the ground and following investigations, appropriate foundations were introduced to reinstate structural integrity. From the options described, the chosen solution was the use of ground beams combined with ground anchors. The ground beams were designed to span between the ground anchors, so that should shrinkage of the soil occur the memorial would not move. Similarly, if heave occurred the ground beams would transfer this uplift load to the ground anchor positions, where the tension load would be transferred into the subsoil below the desiccated level.