Summary

First World War memorial, 1921.

The churchyard walls flanking the east and west sides of the memorial, as defined by their flat coping stones, are excluded from the listing.

Description

First World War memorial, 1921.

MATERIALS: of Breedon granite with marble tablets.

DESCRIPTION: the war memorial is located in the churchyard wall at St Michael's and All Angles Church (listed Grade II*), immediately to the left-hand side of the churchyard entrance. It comprises a vertical extension to the churchyard wall, forming a shrine of rubble stone construction, which has a triangular pedimented central column, with lower, sloping wings. Recessed inside the upper section of the central panel is a marble tablet set beneath a stone lintel. It is incised with an heraldic crest bearing the motto 'SOUVENT ME SOUVIENT', a French phase meaning 'often I remember' or 'think of me often'. Immediately below this, occupying the main area of the memorial, is a recessed marble tablet with a triangular head. The upper section of the tablet is ornamented with an incised cross enclosed by a wreath, flanked by the dates 1914 and 1918. Underneath is the dedicatory inscription which reads 'IN PROUD MEMORY OF THE DISEWORTH MEN WHO FELL IN THE / GREAT WAR, AND HAS A THANKOFFERING TO GOD FOR THE SAFE / RETURN OF SO MANY, THIS TABLET WAS ERECTED: FOUR OF THE CHURCH / BELLS WERE RECAST AND REHUNG: A FIFTH BELL WAS ADDED'. Below this are three columns of which the central column lists the names of the men who died while the two flanking columns list the names of the men who fought and returned.

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, which took the form of a roadside shrine, was raised in Diseworth in 1921 as a permanent testament to the sacrifice made by 21 local men, along with the 44 men who fought and returned. Placed in the churchyard wall, at the entrance to the Church of St Michael and All Angels (listed Grade II*), it was unveiled on 25 September 1921 by Mr CB Shakespeare JP of Langley Prior, and dedicated by the Rural Dean, the Reverend WA King. Along with the shrine, local commemoration also involved the recasting and re-hanging of the four church bells, along with the addition of a fifth bell.

Reasons for Listing

Diseworth War Memorial, erected in 1921, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Historic interest:

* as an eloquent witness to the tragic impacts of world events on this community, and the sacrifices it made in the conflict of the First World War.

Architectural interest:

* as an accomplished and well-realised war memorial which takes the form of a roadside shrine.

Group value:

* with the neighbouring Church of St Michael and All Angles Peter (listed Grade II*) and Cross Farmhouse (listed Grade II).

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q66479374

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

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