Summary

First World War memorial, 1920, with later additions for the Second World War.

Description

First World War memorial, 1920, with later additions for the Second World War.

DESCRIPTION: the memorial stands in a prominent position on a small triangle of grass at the junction of Church Street (B4080), New Road and Drakes Bridges Road, close to the village cross (Grade II). The memorial comprises an irregular carved stone monolith with a smoothed inscribed panel set on a rectangular concrete base.

The main inscription reads: IN GRATEFUL AND LOVING REMEMBRANCE/ OF THE UNRETURNING BRAVE OF THIS PARISH/ 1914 – 1919/ (21 NAMES)/ "GREATER LOVE HATH NO MAN THAN THIS/ THAT A MAN LAY DOWN HIS LIFE FOR HIS FRIENDS"/ 1939 – 1945/ (5 NAMES).

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 at Eckington as a permanent testament to the sacrifice made by the members of the local community who lost their lives in the First World War.

The memorial was unveiled on Sunday 18 April 1920 by the rector, Canon Ismay. When the memorial was erected, iron railings were installed around the perimeter of the triangle of grass upon which it stands and tropical shrubs were planted within the railings but these are no longer present. A cast iron statue of a lion in the grassed area may have come from nearby Bells Castle at Kemerton as another one is situated above a doorway there.

In November 1947 subscriptions were invited to add the names of five parishioners who fell during the Second World War. This work was carried out by John Bulford, a resident of Eckington.

Reasons for Listing

Eckington War Memorial, which stands at the junction of Church Street (B4080), New Road and Drakes Bridges Road, 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 sacrifices it has made in the conflicts of the C20.

Architectural interest:

* as an interesting and unusual example of an irregular monolithic memorial.

Group value:

* with the village cross (Grade II).

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q66479961

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

• 
  Cumbria: Cumberland, Westmorland and Furness (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  County Durham (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England) by Elizabeth Williamson Nikolaus Pevsner(1983-03-11)
• 
  England's Post-War Listed Buildings
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  London 1: The City of London: City of London v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Sussex: West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)