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Latitude: 51.0419 / 51°2'30"N
Longitude: -3.3167 / 3°19'0"W
OS Eastings: 307783
OS Northings: 127769
OS Grid: ST077277
Mapcode National: GBR LR.GMJV
Mapcode Global: FRA 36YC.FP1
Plus Code: 9C3R2MRM+P8
Entry Name: Wiveliscombe Memorial Recreation Park Obelisk and Drinking Fountain
Listing Date: 15 February 2016
Grade: II
Source: Historic England
Source ID: 1432735
ID on this website: 101432735
Location: Wiveliscombe, Somerset, TA4
County: Somerset
District: Somerset West and Taunton
Civil Parish: Wiveliscombe
Built-Up Area: Wiveliscombe
Traditional County: Somerset
Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): Somerset
Tagged with: Memorial
War memorial obelisk (1920), and drinking fountain (1921).
The commemorative obelisk, square sectioned and tapering, is c3m high, of coursed, rusticated, Old Red Sandstone quarried in Ford, a mile NE of Wiveliscombe. It stands on a two-stage stepped base. A tin containing contemporary objects is buried under the memorial. Inset are stone tablets inscribed (first panel) THIS/ WAR MEMORIAL/ RECREATION GROUND/ OPENED ON 3RD JUNE 1920/ WAS PROVIDED BY/ PUBLIC SUBSCRIPTION/ OF THE INHABITANTS OF/ WIVELISCOMBE (second panel) TO/ THE GLORIOUS/ MEMORY OF THE/ MEN OF/ WIVELISCOMBE/ WHO FELL IN/ THE GREAT WAR/ 1914 – 1918.
The drinking fountain, an octagonal font-like structure of the same stone, stands c20m to the east.
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, 25 July 2017.
Wiveliscombe has two principal First World War memorials. One is a stone cross in the churchyard, the other its recreation ground. A war memorial public subscription raised £1,500 which funded the purchase of Broad Meadow on the west side of the town from John Tidboald, and the construction thereon of the recreation ground and a memorial obelisk, built by William White, set on the roadside edge of the field. These were formally opened on 3 June 1920, a week before the dedication of the war memorial cross in the churchyard. A drinking fountain was installed alongside the obelisk in 1921. Further facilities were added later notably, in 1935, a covered stand on the south side of the field (not included in this listing).
Wiveliscombe Memorial Recreation Park Obelisk and Drinking Fountain, situated on the north side of the Memorial Recreation Park, are listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Historic interest: as an eloquent witness to the tragic impact of world events on the local community, and the sacrifice it made in the First World War;
* Architectural interest: an imposing obelisk in a local stone;
* Historical association: the obelisk and fountain form a commemorative group, marking the establishment of the Memorial Recreation Park.
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