Summary

A churchyard First World War memorial of c 1920, with later additions for the Second World War.

Description

A churchyard First World War memorial of c 1920, added to after 1945.

MATERIALS & PLAN: limestone, ashlar and rough-hewn. The memorial has a Celtic, wheel-head cross and shaft above a strongly tapered base which rises from the ground. The memorial is placed to the south-west of the church on the south side of the path which leads from the lych-gate to the south porch.

The north face of the memorial has a rock-hammered head and shaft of the cross with panels of smooth ashlar. The circle-head is rock-hammered, but standing out in relief from this is an ashlar cross with splayed ends and circular centre. Below this there is a large ashlar panel on the shaft of the cross which is inscribed TO THE / GLORY OF GOD / AND IN GRATEFUL / MEMORY OF / OUR GALLANT HEROES / WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES / IN DEFENCE OF / THEIR COUNTRY / IN THE GREAT WAR / 1914 – 1918. Below this are inscribed the names of the Fallen. The tapered base bears the dates 1939 - 1945 above the names of the Fallen from that conflict. There are blank panels to the flanks of the base and the rest of the memorial is blank.

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, 27 July 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. This was the result of both the huge impact on communities of the loss of three quarters of a million British lives, and also the official policy of not repatriating the dead, which meant that the memorials provided the main focus of the grief felt at this great loss. One such memorial was raised at Onibury as a permanent testament to the sacrifice made by the members of the local community who lost their lives in the First World War.

The monument appears to date from c 1920, with later additions after the Second World War to commemorate the Fallen from that conflict.

Reasons for Listing

Onibury War Memorial, Shropshire is 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 conflicts of the C20;
* Architectural interest: as an accomplished and well-realised war memorial, which takes the form of a rough-hewn, Celtic cross on a tapered shaft;
* Group value: with the church of St Michael, Onibury (Grade II*).

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q66477784

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

• 
  England's Post-War Listed Buildings
• 
  Yorkshire West Riding: Leeds, Bradford and the North (Pevsner Architectural Guides / Buildings of England)
• 
  Georgian Style and Design for Contemporary Living
• 
  Hampshire: South (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  [(Cumberland and Westmorland)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1967)
• 
  Gloucestershire 1: The Cotswolds: Cotswolds Pt. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)