PEOPLE can get an early glimpse of the war memorial being built in a Worcester park.

Work on the sculpture, which will soon be a focal point of Gheluvelt Park, Barbourne, has started.

The £33,000 memorial – which proved controversial when initial designs were labelled ugly and inappropriate by Worcester News readers in 2007 – will honour the men who fought at the Battle of Gheluvelt in 1914.

The modern work, designed by London-based architects Plincke and funded by a Heritage Lottery Fund grant, will be made from rough stainless steel panels, concrete and granite.

Every element of the sculpture will have a meaning. Each panel will represent a battle of the First World War, with the varying heights reflecting the number of casualties, while granite seats will symbolise the Worcestershire soldiers who fought in the Battle of Gheluvelt.

A sixth panel will explain the Worcestershire Regiment’s role in the Great War and in late summer swathes of poppies, the poignant symbol of the First World War battlefields, should grow in the middle of the semi-circular sculpture.

Worcester teenager Max Cooper, who is studying for an NVQ in carpentry and joinery at Worcester College of Technology, has created a model of the memorial to give people an idea of how it will look.

The 16-year-old, who is doing work experience at B&P Joinery – the city firm that previously won a contract to build a bridge over the brook in Gheluvelt Park – said: “It took about six weeks to complete. We had all the designs and the plans so it is to scale. It will be good to see it actually in the park.”

Gheluvelt is currently undergoing a major refurbishment, thanks to a £1.4 million lottery grant.

Keith Hall, project manager for the work, said: “We hope it will teach or remind people what the name Gheluvelt means. It’s a physical structure giving a solidity to what Gheluvelt Park is – a memorial. It’s a heritage feature and a historical feature, but it is also a symbol. It’s unique.”

As well as being a focal point for the new-look park, the memorial will act as an open air classroom for schoolchildren to learn about the battle.

Ground was broken last week and work should be complete by the end of June.