The memorial was designed by TH Northam and carved by monumental masons Freeman and Sons. The land on which the memorial was built was donated by the Prideaux-Brune family, who themselves lost a son in the First World War. It was unveiled on 27 September 1922 by Mrs Prideaux-Brune, Mrs Bate, Miss Mitchell and Miss Miller, and was dedicated by the Rev TH Skinner. Conservation and repair work was carried out in 2014, funded by War Memorials Trust, included cleaning the stonework, repointing open joints and repainting the inscription.
The memorial, of rough-hewn granite, consists of a Celtic cross set on a tapering square column both decorated with a carved Celtic pattern, which rises from a square plinth that sits on a three-stepped square base. Carved in relief on the front face of the column is the inscription 1914 – 1919, accompanied by a wreath carved in relief.
The front face of the plinth reads TO / THE GLORY OF GOD, / IN HONOURED MEMORY OF / THE MEN OF PADSTOW, / WHOSE NAMES ARE RECORDED HEREON / WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES / IN THE GREAT WAR / ALSO / IN GRATEFUL APPRECIATION / OF THE SERVICES / OF THOSE WHO RETURNED. The names of those who served in the First and Second World Wars are inscribed on the other three sides of the plinth. These inscriptions are carved in relief and painted with black enamel paint.