Summary

First World War memorial, with later additions for the Second World War.

Description

The rough-hewn granite memorial stands in a small enclosure at the roadside on Hook Street. It takes the form of a small wheel-head cross raised on a tall tapering shaft. The shaft rises from a tapering plinth, rectangular on plan, that stands on a two-stepped base. The base is a different stone type.

The principal dedicatory inscription on the front face of the plinth reads TO THE GLORY OF GOD AND IN MEMORY/ OF THE MEN OF LYDIARD TREGOZE/ WHO MADE THE SUPREME SACRIFICE/ IN THE GREAT WAR. 1914 – 1918./ (11 NAMES)/ “THEIR NAME LIVETH FOR EVERMORE.”/ ECCLUS XLIV.14 (APOCRYPHA). The lettering is in metal letters inset to the stone. A small inclined granite tablet fixed to the lower step reads 1939 – 1945/ (2 NAMES).

The memorial enclosure is marked by a low brick wall with low piers at each corner. The enclosure includes planters* and a wooden bench*, which are not of special interest.

*Pursuant to s.1 (5A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 ('the Act') it is declared that these aforementioned features are not of special architectural or historic interest.

This List entry has been amended to add the source for War Memorials Online. This source was not used in the compilation of this List entry but is added here as a guide for further reading, 16 December 2016.

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 as a permanent testament to the sacrifice made by 11 members of Lydiard Tregoze parish, who lost their lives in the First World War. The memorial had been erected by 1924, when it appears on the Ordnance Survey 1:2500 County Series map for Wiltshire. Following the Second World War the names of two men who died in that conflict were added.

Reasons for Listing

Lydiard Tregoze Parish War Memorial, which stands on Hook Street, 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: a simple yet poignant memorial cross.

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q66477950

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

• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of History Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas
• 
  Lancashire: Liverpool and the South-West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Worcestershire Revised Edition (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Listed Buildings, Conservation Areas and Monuments
• 
  London 4: North: North v. 4 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Drawing up a Local Listed Building Consent Order: Historic England Advice Note 6