Summary

First World War memorial in the form of a stone Celtic cross.

Description

The memorial stands in the grounds of the Church of St Barnabas facing Homerton High Street. The wheel-head cross rises from a tapering shaft, set on a tapering plinth. The front face of the cross and the top half of the shaft are elaborately decorated with Celtic knot-work carvings. The whole stands on a stone step, set into a square-shaped flower bed area demarcated by short stone walls and pillars.

The principal dedicatory inscription on the front face of the plinth reads TO THE LASTING GLORY / AND REMEMBRANCE / OF THE HEROES BELONGING / TO THIS CHURCH & PARISH / WHO GAVE UP THEIR LIVES / IN THE GREAT WAR 1914 - 1918 / ERECTED BY PUBLIC SUBSCRIPTION.

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 which meant that the memorials provided the main focus of the grief felt at this great loss. One such memorial was raised in Homerton 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 dedicated on 21 July 1919.

Reasons for Listing

Homerton 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 local community, and the sacrifice it has made in the First World War;
* Architectural interest: as a well-executed and imposing stone Celtic cross;
* Group value: with the Grade II-listed Church of St Barnabas and Grade II-listed forecourt wall.

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q66478594

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

• 
  Surrey (The Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  The Listed Buildings and Other Principal Structures at the Royal Gunpowder Mills Waltham Abbey
• 
  Suffolk: West: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  [(Shropshire)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1958)
• 
  Old House Care and Repair
• 
  Worcestershire Revised Edition (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)