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Latitude: 52.0325 / 52°1'56"N
Longitude: -0.1116 / 0°6'41"W
OS Eastings: 529639
OS Northings: 238800
OS Grid: TL296388
Mapcode National: GBR K7S.GMH
Mapcode Global: VHGNH.05VR
Plus Code: 9C4X2VJQ+X9
Entry Name: Odsey War Memorial
Listing Date: 5 December 2016
Grade: II
Source: Historic England
Source ID: 1440864
ID on this website: 101440864
Location: Odsey, South Cambridgeshire, SG7
County: Cambridgeshire
District: South Cambridgeshire
Civil Parish: Steeple Morden
Traditional County: Cambridgeshire
Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): Cambridgeshire
Church of England Parish: Steeple Morden St Peter and St Paul
Church of England Diocese: Ely
Tagged with: War memorial
First World War memorial with later additions for the Second World War.
First World War memorial with later additions for the Second World War.
MATERIALS: Portland stone.
DESCRIPTION: the memorial is located by the side of Station Road, outside no. 92 Station Road and it comprises a Stone of Remembrance set upon a single-stepped base.
The front face is inscribed with ODSEY/ IN HONOUR OF THOSE WHO FOUGHT/ AND IN MEMORY OF THOSE WHO FELL/ IN THE GREAT WAR 1914 – 1919/ FALLEN/ (NAMES)/ 1939 – 1945/ (NAMES).
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, 17 February 2017.
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, both as a result of the huge impact the loss of three quarters of a million British lives had on communities and 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 raised at Odsey as a permanent testament to the sacrifice made by the members of the local community who lost their lives in the First World War.
Sir George Fordham, Chair of Cambridgeshire County Council paid to have it made and erected and it commemorated eight fallen local men.
It has been claimed that the memorial was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens OM RA (1869-1944) as Sir George Fordham was a friend of Lutyens and may have commissioned him to design the memorial. Lutyens designed over fifty war memorials and the list can be found in Tim Skelton’s 2008 book Lutyens and the Great War. Odsey War Memorial may well have been a copy of Lutyens’ Cenotaph in Whitehall, the stripped down form of which was influential in the design of many other memorials elsewhere.
In recent times it was conserved and the names of those from Odsey who fell in the Second World War were added.
Odsey War Memorial is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Historic interest: as an eloquent witness to the tragic impact of world events on the local community, and the sacrifices it made in the conflicts of the C20;
* Architectural interest: an elegant Stone of Remembrance displaying a high level of craftsmanship and good quality materials.
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.
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