Bardon Hill War Memorial, Bardon, Leicestershire

Entry Name: Bardon Hill War Memorial

Listing Date: 31 July 2017

Grade: II

Source: Historic England

Source ID: 1443657

ID on this website: 101443657

Location: St Peter's Church, Bardon, North West Leicestershire, LE67

County: Leicestershire

District: North West Leicestershire

Civil Parish: Bardon

Traditional County: Leicestershire

Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): Leicestershire

Tagged with: War memorial

Summary

War memorial, unveiled in 1920, dedicated to the fallen of the First and Second World Wars.

Description

War memorial, unveiled in 1920, dedicated to the fallen of the First and Second World Wars.

The memorial takes the form of a tall Portland stone wheel-cross, bearing the Sword of Sacrifice on its front (west) elevation. The cross is supported on a square-plan plinth having chamfered corners and inscribed slate plaques on each elevation. The cross and plinth are mounted on a square-plan base of local Bardon granite, each of the four elevations being canted.

The front (west) elevation of the plinth is inscribed: ‘TO THE GLORY OF / GOD AND IN / MEMORY OF THE / MEN OF THIS / PARISH WHO GAVE / THEIR LIVES FOR / THEIR COUNTRY / IN THE GREAT WAR / 1914-1919’, and the base is inscribed: ‘THEIR NAME LIVETH / FOR EVERMORE’. The names of 31 of the fallen of the First World War (1914-18) are inscribed on the north and south elevations of the plinth. The rear elevation of the plinth is inscribed: ‘THIS TABLET / PERPETUATES THE MEMORY / OF THOSE WHO GAVE THEIR / LIVES IN THE WORLD WAR / 1939-1945 / [ FOUR NAMES] / WE WILL REMEMBER THEM’.

The memorial stands within the churchyard of the Church of St Peter (listed at Grade II), approximately 10 metres south-east of the church, and is enclosed at the rear by a semi-circular hedge.

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. 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: therefore the memorials provided the main focus of the grief felt at this great loss. One such memorial was raised at the Church of St Peter in Bardon Hill as a permanent testament to the sacrifice made by the members of the local community who lost their lives in the First World War.

Bardon Hill War Memorial was erected in 1920 in the churchyard of the Church of St Peter, which was designed in 1898 by civil engineer and architect J B Everard of Everard & Pick as a memorial to his parents Mr and Mrs Breedon Everard, owners and employers of Bardon Hill quarries. The war memorial, designed by George Nott, was paid for by public subscription and erected in memory of 31 local men who fell in the First World War (1914-18). It was unveiled in a ceremony on 4 September 1920 by Mr B N Everard, and was dedicated by Rev Canon Broughton. Following the Second World War (1939-45), the names of four local men who fell during the conflict were added to the memorial.

Reasons for Listing

Bardon Hill 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 the local community, and the sacrifice it made in the conflicts of the C20;

Group value:

* For its relationship with the nearby Church of St Peter (listed at Grade II), in which churchyard the memorial stands.

External Links

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.