Summary

First World War memorial, unveiled in 1921, with further names added after the Second World War.

Description

The memorial is located within the churchyard of the Church of St Oswald at Knuzden, and it comprises a Latin cross with moulded ends and with a patte cross at the intersection of the arms. It has a carved collar and surmounts a tapering shaft. The whole is set on a tapering plinth and a two-stepped base. Around the steps the memorial is enclosed by a low stone kerb with small pillars at each corner.

The inscription reads: ERECTED BY THE PARISHIONERS AD 1921 IN GRATEFUL AND LOVING MEMORY OF THE MEN OF ST OSWALD'S CHURCH AND SCHOOL WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES FOR GOD, KING AND COUNTRY IN THE GREAT WAR 1914 – 1918. GREATER LOVE HATH NO MAN THAN THIS. (NAMES)

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, 23 November 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, both as a result of the huge impact the loss of three quarters of a million British lives had on communities and 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 St Oswalds’s Church at Knuzden as a permanent testament to the sacrifice made by the members of the local community who lost their lives in the First World War. It was unveiled in 1921 and dedicated to 24 men of St Oswalds’s Church and School.

Following the Second World War the names of three who fell in that conflict were added to the memorial.

Reasons for Listing

St Oswald’s, Knuzden War Memorial is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Historic interest: as an eloquent witness to the tragic impact of world events on this community, and the sacrifices it has made in the conflicts of the C20;
* Architectural interest: an ornate and striking Latin cross with carved decorative details.

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q62393973

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

• 
  Suffolk: East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Period Property Manual (New Ed)
• 
  [(Cumberland and Westmorland)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1967)
• 
  Berkshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Kent: West and the Weald: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Staffordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)