Summary

First World War memorial, 1922.

Description

The memorial stands next to St Matthew’s Church, St Matthew Street. Built of Portland stone, it comprises a plain bronze Latin cross on a stone orb set on a triangular-sectioned stone shaft. That rises from a triangular plinth standing on a circular base. On the front face of the shaft is a carved wreath encircling the inscription 1914/ 1919 in low relief.

An inscription on the front face of the plinth reads + IN THANKFUL REMEMBRANCE OF THE MEN/ OF THIS PARISH AND CONGREGATION/ WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES FOR THEIR COUNTRY/ IN THE GREAT WAR (NAMES)/ R.I.P.

This List entry has been amended to add the source for War Memorials Register. This source was not used in the compilation of this List entry but is added here as a guide for further reading, 25 July 2017.

History

Habergham Eaves War Memorial was designed by J Harold Gibbons FRIBA, who also oversaw its construction. It was unveiled in May 1922 by Mr RS Bardsley and dedicated by Reverend H Pritt, Reverend John Barney and Mr J Longbottom. Funded by public subscription, it commemorates 48 men from the parish who died during the First World War including Alfred Victor Smith VC.

Following an episode of vandalism, the original bronze cross at the top of the memorial was repaired and taken into the church. Conservation and repair work was carried out in 2013, funded by War Memorials Trust. This included repointing, pinning fractures in the stone shaft and adding a new metal cross. Cobblestones attached to the base of the plinth, which were not original, were removed. The memorial was rededicated on 9 November 2013 by the Bishop of Blackburn.

J Harold Gibbons (1878-1958), son of the architect John Gibbons, was based in Manchester and then London. He was responsible for a number of listed churches, including the Grade II*-listed Church of St Peter and St Paul, Bromley, and for the restoration of the Grade I-listed Church of St Cuthbert and St Matthias, Earls Court.

Reasons for Listing

Habergham Eaves War Memorial, situated at the church of St Matthew, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reason:
* Historic interest: as an eloquent witness to the tragic impact of world events on the local community, and the sacrifice it made in the First World War.

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26677648

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

• 
  Oxfordshire: North and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair
• 
  Yorkshire West Riding: Leeds, Bradford and the North (Pevsner Architectural Guides / Buildings of England)
• 
  Gloucestershire 1: The Cotswolds: Cotswolds Pt. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Period Property Manual (New Ed)
• 
  Suffolk: East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)