Snowshill War Memorial, Snowshill, Gloucestershire

Summary

War memorial, erected in 1923. Designed by the architect Frederick Landseer Maur Griggs and built by George and Albert Diston and John Coppinger.

Description

War memorial, erected in 1923. Designed by the architect Frederick Landseer Maur Griggs and built by George and Albert Diston and John Coppinger.

MATERIALS: built of Cotswold stone.

DESCRIPTION: the three and four stepped platform on which the memorial stands accommodates its steeply sloped site. The war memorial has a pedestal with a square plinth and an octagonal dado with stepped stops, and is surmounted by a tapered octagonal shaft with a cross. The cross is covered by a stone canopy. The west face of the cross has a relief carving of the crucifixion of Christ, and the east face has a relief carving of the Madonna and Child.

There is a recessed band around the top of the dado with the inscription in relief-carved lettering:

IN MEMORY / OF THOSE / FROM THIS / VILLAGE / WHO DIED / FOR THEIR / COUNTRY IN / 1914 – 1918

The names of the five men are carved towards the base of the dado. There is the added inscription RESTORED / 1995 to one of the steps of the platform.

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.

Snowshill War Memorial, situated at the south-east corner, the highest point, of the steeply sloping churchyard of the Church of St Barnabus (Grade II), was designed by Frederick Landseer Maur Griggs to commemorate five local servicemen who died in the First World War. It is constructed of Cotswold stone donated by Sir Philip Sidney Stott, the architect who lived at nearby Stanton Court (Grade II) and built by three local stone masons George Diston and his brother Albert (two of their relations are commemorated on the war memorial) and John Coppinger. The work was overseen by Charles Paget Wade, an Arts and Crafts architect, craftsman and collector who owned Snowshill Manor (Grade II*) where he entertained his many guests (up to 500 a year) including Griggs, and where he laid out a garden (Grade II) based on a design by M H Baillie Scott. When £20 was still to be found for the erection of the war memorial, which had been funded by public subscription, Mr Wade opened up his house and garden, along with his collection of costumes and pen and ink drawings to help to raise the additional money. The war memorial was unveiled on the 26 August 1923.

The war memorial was restored in 1995, and this fact was incised into one of the stone steps of the platform.

Frederick Landseer Maur Griggs (1876-1938) of Chipping Campden, Gloucestershire is best known as an etcher, artist and illustrator but also as an Arts and Crafts architect who designed his own house, New Dover’s House (1927-1937, Grade II*), and a number of war memorials, many at his own expense, including that at Snowshill, Painswick and Chipping Camden in Gloucestershire and Broadway in Worcestershire.

Reasons for Listing

Snowshill 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;
* for its association with Arts and Crafts architects Charles Paget Wade and Sir Philip Stott who both played important roles in the building of the war memorial.

Architectural interest:

* designed by Frederick Griggs, a notable etcher, artist and illustrator, as well as a recognised architect;
* as an accomplished example of an Arts and Crafts style war memorial with clear architectural quality in its design and craftsmanship.

Group value:

* with the Grade II listed Church of St Barnabas as well as numerous listed buildings around the memorial.

External Links

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