Summary

A war memorial, unveiled in November 1921 and built and possibly designed by Mr J Dawson (builder), commemorating boy scouts from the 1st Downend Troop who fell in the First World War.

Description

A war memorial, unveiled in November 1921 and built and possibly designed by Mr J Dawson (builder), commemorating boy scouts from the 1st Downend Troop who fell in the First World War. The monument is of rock-hewn stone with a bronze plaque and inset, bronze lettering.

The monument is in the form of an obelisk which rises from a plinth of two steps which rests on a square platform. To the apex is a stone cross. There is a deep, projecting string course roughly half way up the obelisk, with a cyma moulding to the underside and a curved upper surface. Above this on the south-west face is a circular plaque showing the Fleur-de-lis of the Boy Scouts movement. Below the string course is an inscription which reads ‘1st DOWNEND TROOP / BOY SCOUTS. / TO THE MEMORY OF THOSE WHO FELL / IN THE GREAT WAR / 1914-1919 / (Names)’. On the upper step of the plinth is inscribed ‘CALLED TO HIGHER SERVICE’.
The other sides of the monument are without decoration, save for the continuous string course.

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, 11 January 2017.

History

The aftermath of the First World War saw the biggest single wave of public commemoration ever with tens of thousands of memorials erected across England. One such memorial was The Downend Boy Scout's War Memorial. The monument was unveiled in November 1921 and built by Mr J Dawson (builder). The 1st Downend troop of Boy Scouts was founded by Revd. Philip George Alexander. He is commemorated on the memorial and died when HMS Hampshire, on which he was chaplain, sank. The memorial has been moved from its original position. In 2005 it was refurbished.

Reasons for Listing

The Boy Scouts' War Memorial, Downend, South Gloucestershire is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Historic interest: as an eloquent witness to the tragic impacts of world events on this community, and the sacrifices it made in the conflicts of the C20;
* Architectural interest: as an accomplished and well-realised war memorial which takes the simple form of an obelisk with a cross finial.

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26677132

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.

Recommended Books

• 
  Cambridgeshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Sussex: East with Brighton and Hove (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of Historic Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas
• 
  Yorkshire: York and the East Riding (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Period Property Manual (New Ed)
• 
  Lancashire: Manchester and the South-East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)