We don't have any photos of this building yet. Why don't you be the first to send us one?
Latitude: 51.0268 / 51°1'36"N
Longitude: 0.5632 / 0°33'47"E
OS Eastings: 579841
OS Northings: 128399
OS Grid: TQ798283
Mapcode National: GBR PV5.K6D
Mapcode Global: FRA D62D.M6P
Plus Code: 9F322HG7+P7
Entry Name: Sandhurst War Memorial
Listing Date: 5 July 1993
Grade: II
Source: Historic England
Source ID: 1336752
English Heritage Legacy ID: 170358
ID on this website: 101336752
Location: Sandhurst, Tunbridge Wells, Kent, TN18
County: Kent
District: Tunbridge Wells
Civil Parish: Sandhurst
Built-Up Area: Sandhurst
Traditional County: Kent
Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): Kent
Tagged with: World War I memorial
First World War memorial, 1923, by Sir Edwin Lutyens with later additions for the Second World War.
The memorial stands on the northern part of The Green alongside the main road through the village, with the Grade II-listed Clocktower Monument of 1889 rising behind it on the memorial’s main axis and contributing to perhaps the most elaborate setting of all of Lutyens’ memorial crosses. The memorial comprises a Portland stone War Cross, the shaft lozenge sectioned with a sword and wreath in relief. The shaft tapers into a three-stage rectangular plinth. That carries the inscription: (top section) TO THE BRAVE MEN/ OF/ SANDHURST/ WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES/ IN THE GREAT WARS; (middle section) 1939-1945 (NAMES); (bottom section) 1914-1919 (NAMES). There is a small, shallow, two-stage square base.
From the memorial pairs of parallel strips of Portland stone run outwards, forming a cross in the grass surround. Low, broad, stone benches form the termination of three of the arms, while a small circular flower bed, again edged with Portland stone, lies at the foot of the shaft of the cross arrangement.
This list entry was subject to a Minor Amendment on 26/10/2015
This List entry has been amended to add sources for War Memorials Online and the War Memorials Register. These sources were not used in the compilation of this List entry but are added here as a guide for further reading, 1 December 2016.
Sandhurst’s War Memorial Committee, chaired by Herbert Alexander, chose a site on Goddards Green in the heart of the village. It would seem the commission for Lutyens arose through his close personal friendship with James Wilson, a local resident. The memorial was dedicated in August 1923 by Viscount Goschen.
The addition of ‘S’ to the final line of the dedication on the memorial (IN THE GREAT WARS) shows the many and various ways in which people sought to modify memorials to include the fallen of the Second World War.
Sir Edwin Lutyens OM RA (1869-1944) was the leading English architect of his generation. Before the First World War his reputation rested on his country houses and his work at New Delhi, but during and after the war he became the pre-eminent architect for war memorials in England, France and the British Empire. While the Cenotaph in Whitehall (London) had the most influence on other war memorials, the Thiepval Arch was the most influential on other forms of architecture. He designed the Stone of Remembrance which was placed in all Imperial War Graves Commission cemeteries and in some cemeteries in England, including some with which he was not otherwise associated.
Sandhurst War Memorial is listed at Grade II for the following principle reasons:
* Historic interest: as an eloquent witness to the tragic impacts of world events on this community, and the sacrifices it made in the conflicts of the C20;
* Architect: by the nationally renowned architect Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens (1869-1944), who designed extant 58 memorials at home and abroad including the Cenotaph in Whitehall;
* Design: a simple yet elegant cross, exceptionally with kerbing extending outwards to form a cross pattern, with benches and a flower bed at the ends of the cross arms;
* Group value: with nearby listed buildings, notably the Grade II-listed Clocktower Monument.
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.
Other nearby listed buildings
