A SIGNIFICANT relic of Goulburn's military history, the Rocky Hill War Memorial honour roll, has been painstakingly cleaned and restored.
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The honour roll, made of four Carrara marble panels with local sandstone surrounds, measures about 4.8m by 3m (16ft by 10ft) and lists more than 1400 names of the district's fallen.
It was installed in the Rocky Hill Memorial tower on Remembrance Day in 1926.
The then Mayor of Goulburn, Alderman Middlebrook, performed the ceremony and told the crowd gathered the "huge illuminated tower" was one of Australia's "finest memorials".
Today, more than $17,800 has been spent on conservation work to return the 90-year-old honour roll to its original condition.
The funding was derived from a Community War Memorial Fund state grant of $10,000 and a Goulburn Soldiers Club donation of $7800.
Senior sculpture conservator Arek Werstak and senior architectural conservator Katy Ross of International Conservation Services (ICS) carried out the conservation work with their teams in early February this year.
Alderman Middlebrook's sentiment of 1926 was echoed by the NSW Minister for Veterans Affairs, David Elliott, and Deputy Mayor Bob Kirk at the Friday unveiling.
"This memorial is quite remarkable because it looks very much like the one at Lone Pine near Gallipoli in Turkey," Mr Elliott told the Post.
"I would go so far as to suggest that they may even be designed by the same person.
"When you look at the names and certainly the numbers of people from the Goulburn district that served in the Great War, I wouldn't be surprised if some of them were lost at Lone Pine in 1915."
Cr Kirk also noted that Goulburn had had several notable visitors to the city in latter years to inspect the memorial and the work carried out in its restoration. "We've had the visit from Premier Mike Baird in 2014, as well as Governor General Sir Peter Cosgrove and NSW Governor Major General David Hurley over the past 12-18 months," he said.
"The fact that this memorial stands as . . . a beacon of Goulburn that is pretty well renowned everywhere, and we're very proud that we've been able to have the work done inside to commemorate the sacrifice of these men."
