Fairburn War Memorial, Fairburn, North Yorkshire

Entry Name: Fairburn War Memorial

Listing Date: 19 February 2019

Grade: II

Source: Historic England

Source ID: 1462330

ID on this website: 101462330

Location: Fairburn, North Yorkshire, WF11

County: North Yorkshire

District: Selby

Civil Parish: Fairburn

Built-Up Area: Fairburn

Traditional County: Yorkshire

Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): North Yorkshire

Tagged with: War memorial

Summary

First World War memorial of 1924 in the form of a Portland stone obelisk set on an inscribed plinth including an inscription for the Second World War.

Description

War memorial, 1924.

MATERIALS: Portland stone.

DESCRIPTION: the memorial is in the form of a simple obelisk set on a plinth that is inscribed on two faces: The memorial is relatively small, standing about 4m tall, and is raised up on a single step.

The west face carries the inscription:

TO THE GLORY OF GOD
AND IN MEMORY OF THE
FOLLOWING MEN FROM THIS
PARISH WHO FELL IN THE
GREAT WAR 1914-1918.

Followed by ten names

GREATER LOVE HATH NO MAN THAN THIS
THAT A MAN LAY DOWN HIS LIFE FOR
HIS FRIENDS.

The north face carries the nearly identical inscription, just replacing 'Great War 1914-1918' with 'WAR 1939-1945' followed by eight 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 erected at Fairburn in 1924 as a permanent testament to the sacrifice made by the members of the local community. It commemorates ten local servicemen who died during the First World War. Following the Second World War, a matching inscription was added to commemorate the eight servicemen who died in that conflict.

Originally sited at the principal road junction within the village, in 1958 it was moved from this busy roadside location, by that time the A1 main road, to the churchyard of the village’s church of St James. Following the upgrading of the A1, bypassing the village, the memorial was returned to its original site in 2013.

Reasons for Listing

Fairburn War Memorial is listed at Grade II for the following reasons:

Historical interest:
* as an eloquent witness to the tragic impact of world events on this local community, and the sacrifice it has made in the conflicts of the C20.

Architectural interest:
* as a good example of a small, obelisk-style war memorial.

External Links

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