Summary

First World War memorial, unveiled 1931, with later additions.

Description

Bishampton War Memorial is located at the junction of Main Street and Babylon Lane. Built in red Inkberrow stone, it consists of a Latin cross raguly with a moulded foot ring, rising from a slender shaft. That stands on an octagonal plinth and a four-stepped base.

The lettering on the memorial is carved in relief on the plinth. The principal dedicatory inscription reads IN GRATEFUL/ MEMORY/ TO THE MEN OF/ BISHAMPTON/ WHO GAVE THEIR/ LIVES IN THE/ GREAT WAR/ 1914 – 1918. On the other faces of the plinth are the lists of commemorated names preceded by DIED or SERVED.

At the base of the memorial, butting the lowest step, two grey granite plaques record additional names. The first plaque reads 1914 – 1918/ ALSO DIED/ (2 NAMES)/ ALSO SERVED/ (12 NAMES): the second records the history of the memorial from 1931 to 2016.

Pursuant to s.1 (5A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 (‘the Act’) it is declared that two granite plaques added in 2016 and butting the memorial base are not of special architectural or historic interest.

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, 21 February 2017.

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: therefore the memorials provided the main focus of the grief felt at this great loss. One such memorial was raised at Bishampton 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 erected by public subscription, collected door to door by the Fladbury Branch of the British Legion. The remaining funds were raised by a series of Whist Drives and Dances which were organised by the Ladies’ War Memorial Fund-Raising Committee, set up especially for the cause.

The memorial was constructed and erected by Mr F Taylor of Inkberrow at a cost of £74 3s and was unveiled during an ecumenical ceremony by Lieutenant-General Sir Francis J Davies on 26 July 1931. It was the hundredth memorial that Davies had unveiled. The land on which the memorial stands was gifted to the Parish Council on 5 August 1931 by Mr William Kennard Wheeler. The memorial commemorates the 37 local servicemen who served in the First World War, of whom six died. In 1948 the name of one member of the village who died in the Second World War was added to the memorial.

In 2013 the memorial was conserved with the help of grant aid from War Memorials Trust. Following this the memorial was re-dedicated on 13 October 2013 by the Bishop of Worcester. A First World War research project identified additional local servicemen who had not been commemorated on the memorial, so two additional plaques were added to mark their service. These plaques were dedicated on 11 November 2016 by the Reverend Gary Noyes.

Reasons for Listing

Bishampton War Memorial, which stands at the junction of Main Street and Babylon Lane, 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 conflicts of the C20;
* Architectural interest: a tall and elegant memorial cross;
* Group value: with the Grade II-listed Whitehorn Cottage.

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q66477687

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

• 
  [(Cumberland and Westmorland)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1967)
• 
  Berkshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Staffordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Cumbria: Cumberland, Westmorland and Furness (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  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)