Summary

First World War memorial.

Description

The memorial stands in the churchyard of the church of St Andrew (Grade I), to the west of the church and in close proximity to a number of listed structures and scheduled churchyard monuments. It comprises a tall sandstone cross with a small wheel-head, standing on a small stepped pedestal.

The front face of the cross is decorated with ornate carved motifs including interlace on the cross head and a vine entwined around the cross of St Andrew on the shaft. At the base of the shaft the principal dedicatory inscription reads IN PROUD AND/ GRATEFUL/ MEMORY/ OF THE MEN OF/ PENRITH/ WHO GAVE/ THEIR LIVES/ IN THE WAR/ 1914-1918.

The rear face of the cross head is similarly decorated, whilst the carving on the cross shaft is a complicated interlace pattern worked around a Latin cross. Carved below this ornament is AS DYING/ AND BEHOLD/ WE LIVE.

This List entry has been amended to add the source for War Memorials Online. This source was not used in the compilation of this List entry but is added here as a guide for further reading, 2 February 2017.

History

In June 1919 the Vestry of St Andrew’s Church agreed to erect a marble tablet in the church commemorating the names of 165 men and one woman from Penrith who had died in the First World War. At some point a complimentary churchyard cross was also erected, possibly before the civic memorial at Castle Park was finalised and dedicated in 1923.

Reasons for Listing

The war memorial cross at St Andrew’s church, Penrith, which stands in the churchyard, 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 sacrifice it has made in the First World War;
* Architectural interest: an ornately carved Celtic cross;
* Group value: with the Church of St Andrew (Grade I), a number of listed buildings enclosing the churchyard, and listed and scheduled churchyard monuments including The Giant’s Thumb Anglian High Cross.

Recommended Books

• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of Historic Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas
• 
  Hertfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Yorkshire West Riding: Sheffield and the South (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Renovating Old Houses: Bringing New Life to Vintage Homes (For Pros By Pros)
• 
  Kent: West and the Weald: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  ENGLAND GUIDE TO POST WAR LISTED: A Guide to Post-war Listed Buildings