50 War Memorials Listed to Mark Armistice Day
- Listings include memorial researched and nominated by Yorkshire schoolchildren and a winged figure designed by the sister of Major Geoffrey Brooke Parnell who fell at the Battle of the Somme
- Historic England asks the public to nominate their memorial for listing to help reach the target of 2,500 First World War memorials listed during the centenary
To mark Armistice Day Historic England announces the listing of 50 war memorials across the country.
The listings are the latest in our pledge to protect 2,500 memorials by 2018, marking the centenary of the First World War.
The memorials are recognised for their historic and architectural importance and have been listed by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport on the advice of Historic England.
From a winged figure designed by a children’s illustrator in memory of her brother to a series of monuments on land bequeathed to the National Trust, these memorials are a poignant, physical reminder of the sacrifices and loss the First World War brought about.
Thanks to pupils at Thornton Primary School in Bradford, among the newly listed memorials is Thornton memorial; the memorial was researched and recorded by the Year Five class and put forward for listing as part of Historic England’s Heritage Schools initiative.
Communities across the country were devastated by the conflict overseas and the effect of war at home. Our memorials are a record of the huge impact of the war across all levels of society. Each monument reveals another facet of the Great War: from TNT explosions in Silvertown, East London to the important role of a West Lancashire estate in receiving horses from all over the world to prepare to face the front line.
Roger Bowdler, Director of Listing at Historic England, said: “One hundred years on, it is time to come together again to ensure our memorials are in good condition, and properly recognised by listing. This is all part of a wider partnership we have forged with War Memorials Trust, Civic Voice and the Imperial War Museums to help communities discover, care for and conserve their local war memorials. They will gain a place on the National Heritage List for England to tell the story of this country’s sacrifice and struggle.”
Tracey Crouch, Heritage Minister, said: "The First World War affected every community across the country, and local memorials are integral to honouring the memory of those who served.
“As we continue to commemorate the centenary of the war, it is only right that we protect memorials across the country so future generations never forget the sacrifices that were made.”
Recently Listed War Memorials
Memorial to Major Geoffrey Brooke Parnell, Holy Trinity Church, High Street, Guildford
The memorial to Major Geoffrey Brooke Parnell (1882-1916) at Holy Trinity Church in Guildford in 1922 was designed as a permanent testament to the sacrifice made by him, the officers and men of the 1st Battalion of the Queen's (Royal West Surrey) Regiment who fell at High Wood on 15 July 1916 in the Battle of the Somme. It is a bronze sculpture of Parnell as a winged saint on a stone inscribed plinth, and was designed by his sister the author and children's illustrator, Edith Farmiloe.
The eight Robertson Brothers memorials at Sharpenhoe, Netley Park, Hydon’s Ball, Crowlink, Hindhead Common, Toys Hill, Frensham Common, Whipsnade
Across the country around 50,000 hectares of National Trust land serve as war memorials in addition to 170 traditional monuments. There are eight memorials on National Trust land dedicated to two brothers, Norman and Laurance Robertson. Norman died in 1917 in Germany and Laurance at the Battle of the Somme in 1916. Their surviving older brother William left a bequest to the National Trust for land to be bought “within reasonably easy distance from London” as a memorial to them. As a result there are nine different memorial sites; eight markers are obelisks with dedicatory plaques, the ninth is a wall plaque. You can search the National Trust online map for more information on all the different landscapes and memorials under their care.
Thornton War Memorial, Thornton, Bradford
As part of Historic England’s Heritage Schools project, children were invited to put their local war memorials forward for listing. Through research and condition surveys Year Five pupils from Thornton Primary School discovered that their imposing memorial is impressive for a small village such as Thornton. Made of Yorkshire stone, it has a bronze figure of victory and peace and its head is bowed holding wreaths outward in each hand. It was unveiled in what was reported as an impressive ceremony in the presence of thousands of people in 1922.
Brunner Mond and ICI Alkali Division War Memorial, Winnington Works, Northwich, Cheshire
This memorial, flanked by stone lions, was designed by the architect Darcy Braddell. During the First World War Brunner, Mond and Co manufactured half the high explosives used on every front, at lower profit than offered by the Government. 2,688 of their employees served in the War, and 291 perished. This included sixteen men and two women who were killed in a huge TNT explosion at the Silvertown works in London, who are also commemorated on the Silvertown memorial. The Brunner Mond name lives on as a subsidiary of Tata Chemicals Ltd.
Lathom War Memorial, Lathom, Ormskirk, Lancashire
This simple memorial was given by the Earl of Lathom and commemorates those who attended the nearby chapel or lived on his estate, Lathom Park. The estate played a key role during the First World War as the place where horses and mules were prepared for their duties on the front line. Horses came to West Lancashire from all over the world through the Port of Liverpool and War Office statistics indicate that between September 1914 and November 1917, 215,000 horse and mules passed through Lathom Park.
Cambridgeshire
St Neots War Memorial, St Mary's Churchyard, Brook Street
Steeple Morden War Memorial, Churchyard of the Church of St Peter and St Paul, Hay Street
Bluntisham and Earith War Memorial, Village Green, Junction of Holliday's Road and Rectory Road
Little Stukeley War Memorial, Churchyard of St Martin's Church, Church Way
Hertfordshire
Langleybury War Memorial, Junction of Langleybury Lane and the A41, Hunton Bridge, Kings Langley
Leverstock Green War Memorial, Corner of Leverstock Green and Church Road
Hemel Hempstead War Memorial, Corner of St John's Road and Station Road
Bourne End War Memorial, Near the Watermill Hotel London Road Bourne End Hemel Hempstead
War memorial at St Michael and All Angels Church, Berkhamsted, Ivy House Lane
Wilstone War Memorial, Junction of New Road and Tring Road
Wigginton War Memorial, Corner of Hemp Lane and The Twist, Near St Bartholomew's Church
Berkhamsted War Memorial, Corner of High Street and Church Lane
Inns of Court Officers Training Corps Memorial, Berkhamsted Common
Lincolnshire
Martin War Memorial, Churchyard of the Holy Trinity Church, High Street
Norfolk
West Acre and District War Memorial, Village Green
Bedfordshire
Wrestlingworth War Memorial, Churchyard of the Church of St Peter, Church Lane
Lancashire
Great Altcar War Memorial, Churchyard of the Church of St Michael and All Angels, Lord Sefton Way
Weir and District War Memorial, Deerplay Hill, Burnley Road
Banks War Memorial, Churchyard of the Church of St Stephen in the Banks, Church Road
Cheshire
Kerridge War Memorial, Memorial Garden, Oak Lane
Bickerton War Memorial, Bickerton Cemetery, Goldford Lane
East Riding of Yorkshire
Withernsea Old War Memorial, Italian Gardens, Queen Street
County Durham
Greatham War Memorial, Churchyard of the Church of St John the Baptist, Parish Row, Greatham, Hartlepool
Northumberland
Keenley and Broadside War Memorial, c60m south-west of Burn Tongues Farm, Keenley, Allendale, Hexham
London
Hendon War Memorial, Watford Way, Near Prothero Gardens
Beddington and Wallington War Memorial, Wallington Green, Acre Lane
Kent
Ash-cum-Ridley War Memorial, The Street, Ash-cum-Ridley, Sevenoaks
Oxfordshire
Eaton Hastings War Memorial, War Memorial Green, Roadside Cottages, Lechlade Road
Summertown War Memorial, Outside Summertown Church Hall, Banbury Road
Kidlington and Hamlets War Memorial, Churchyard of the Church St Mary the Virgin, Kidlington, Cherwell
Surrey
Beacon Hill War Memorial, Churchyard of the Church of St Alban, Tilford Road, Beacon Hill, Hindhead
Gloucestershire
War memorial adjacent to Paxford Mission Church, B4479, Paxford, Blockley
Somerset
Old Cleeve War Memorial, West Somerset
Selworthy War Memorial Cross, c40m to the west of the Church of All Saints
Warwickshire
Cubbington War Memorial, Churchyard of the Church of St Mary, Church Lane, Cubbington, Leamington Spa
Herefordshire
Upper Hill War Memorial, Village Green, Upper Hill
Wiltshire
The Hewetson Memorial Cross and Plaque, Fargo Plantation, Larkhill
Corton War Memorial, Burial Ground, Corton, Boyton, Warminster
