History in Structure

Crayford War Memorial in grounds of Crayford Manor

A Grade II Listed Building in Crayford, London

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Coordinates

Latitude: 51.4583 / 51°27'30"N

Longitude: 0.172 / 0°10'19"E

OS Eastings: 550993

OS Northings: 175500

OS Grid: TQ509755

Mapcode National: GBR SS.S1Q

Mapcode Global: VHHNS.XLSW

Plus Code: 9F32F55C+8Q

Entry Name: Crayford War Memorial in grounds of Crayford Manor

Listing Date: 13 November 2012

Grade: II

Source: Historic England

Source ID: 1410311

ID on this website: 101410311

Location: Crayford War Memorial Garden, Barnehurst, Bexley, London, DA1

County: London

District: Bexley

Electoral Ward/Division: Crayford

Parish: Non Civil Parish

Built-Up Area: Bexley

Traditional County: Kent

Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): Greater London

Church of England Parish: Crayford St Paulinus

Church of England Diocese: Rochester

Tagged with: War memorial

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Summary


War memorial, unveiled in 1954.

Description


DATE: war memorial unveiled on 13 June 1954. Constructed by Messrs S G and A Agombar with the bronze plaques by Messrs Comyn Ching and Co. Ltd. Moderne style.

MATERIALS: constructed of brick in English bond with bronze panels.

DESCRIPTION: comprises a free-standing brick wall divided into five panels, with gabled brick coping. The central panel is taller with ramped up coping with tiles on edge in the corners and on the south-west side has three attached bronze panels.

The central panel has the inscription 'CRAYFORD MEMORIAL GARDEN' with the shield of Kent below. Below this is the inscription:
'THEY SHALL NOT GROW OLD,AS WE WHO ARE LEFT GROW OLD:/AGE SHALL NOT WEARY THEM, NOR THE /YEARS CONDEMN,/ AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN,AND IN THE MORNING/WE WILL REMEMBER THEM./ LAURENCE BINYON/

(Laurence Binyon (1869-1943) is the poet from whose poem "For the Fallen" the inscription is taken.)

The two outer panels have the names of the fallen from both world wars. The left side panel has 142 names of His Majesty's forces who perished in the First World War. Below this are names of His Majesty's forces who perished in the Second World War but this is continued on the right side plaque, 153 names in all. Below on the right hand plaque are the names of 68 Second World War civilian casualties.

Brick planters are attached to the side panels on the south-east side and in front of the centre is a detached low rectangular-shaped brick planter.

This List entry has been amended to add sources for War Memorials Online and the War Memorials Register. These sources were not used in the compilation of this List entry but are added here as a guide for further reading, 9 February 2017.

History


This War Memorial was unveiled on July 9 1954 to commemorate the war dead of both world wars from the parish of Crayford. According to the 13 January 1954 minutes of Crayford Urban District the structure was built by Messrs S G and A Agombar. The minutes of 10 March 1954 record that the three bronze plaques were provided by Messrs Comyn Ching and Co. Ltd.

Reasons for Listing


Crayford War Memorial, unveiled in 1954, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Form and design: this war memorial is not built to a standard design but rather as a memorial garden comprising a brick wall with attached plaques and planters;
* Inscriptions: it bears the inscriptions of the casualties of the two world wars and
unusually includes a number of local civilian casualties;
* Intactness: the memorial is unaltered;
* Rarity and historic interest: memorials erected after the Second World War, such as this one, are rare nationally. This is the only war memorial commemorating the Crayford casualties of both world wars.

External Links

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

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