Extracts from the Vestry Minutes describing the dedication are given below. 

"The chief event of the year had been the Day of the Dedication of the Chicheley War Memorial – “The Wayside Cross” in the village and the memorial tablet in the Church, the cost of which had been £180 & £60, apart from the fees of the architect, Mr. Herbert Baker.  Previous to the Dedication, the Archbishop of Cape Town (Carter) had visited the Church, and on Friday October 22nd, with the sanction of the Bishop of Buckingham, the Lord Bishop of St. Albans (Furze) dedicated the Memorials. The Rural Dean & several local Priests with the Vicar, were present and the Ceremony, with the Parish Ex-Service Guard of Honour, the large Choir lead by Cross & Banner Bearers, with the large congregation following, made the Procession from the old Church to “The Wayside Cross” most reverent and imposing. The Bugler of the Bedfordshire Regiment had sounded “The Last Post” and the address given by the Bishop, most stirring and manly, will long be remembered in Chicheley. The service concluding with the singing of the Hymn “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross”, a solemn Muffled Peal of Bells was rung in further honoured memory of our Fallen Heroes who fell in the Great War, to save the little Parish of Chicheley from German Destruction, & for God, King & Country".

The war memorial was designed by the famous architect Sir Herbert Baker, who also designed Sir George Farrar’s home in Bedfordview, Johannesburg, South Africa.  Sir George was tenant of Chicheley Hall at the turn of the 19th/20th centuries and was a "Landlord", soldier and politician in South Africa.  He was killed in 1915 and his name is one of those on Chicheley's War memorial.  Photographs of his house are shown in the History section.