Summary

War memorial, erected in about 1919.

Description

War memorial, erected in about 1919.

MATERIALS: granite, with black metal lettering on marble tablets.

DESCRIPTION: located to the left of the west entrance to the Church of St Michael (Grade I), the war memorial comprises a Celtic-style wheel cross with tapered rectangular shaft, surmounted on a tapered square plinth and square base. The plinth, shaft and cross have incised border detail. On the west face of the plinth is an inset marble tablet with an inscription in black metal lettering that reads:

ERECTED BY THE PARISHIONERS IN PROUD / AND UNDYING MEMORY OF THE MEN WHO / GAVE THEIR LIVES FOR THEIR COUNTRY IN / THE GREAT WAR 1914 – 1918 / (NAMES) / “GREATER LOVE HATH NO MAN THAN THIS.”

The inscription records the three men of the parish who died during the First World War.

There is an additional marble tablet to the south face of the plinth with the inscription:

ALSO IN HONOURED AND GRATEFUL / MEMORY OF THOSE WHO RETURNED / IN SAFETY.

The inscription lists the names of the 18 men of the parish who served and returned, as well as Beatrice Matthews, a Red Cross nurse.

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, 24 November 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 the country. 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, which meant that the memorials provided the main focus of the grief felt at this great loss.

One such memorial was raised at the Chuch of St Michael in Michaelstow. It was funded by parishioners and erected in about 1919.

Reasons for Listing

Michaelstow War Memorial is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* For its accomplished and well-realised design in the form of a Celtic-style wheel cross;
* It survives unaltered in its original location.

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;
* For its recognition of the contribution made by a British Red Cross nurse during the First World War.

Group value:
* For its relationship with the Grade I Church of St Michael, and the several designated assets within the churchyard.

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q66478907

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

• 
  Harrow on the Hill: A photographic portrayal of listed buildings and structures (Historic Buildings Picture Guides)
• 
  A Buying and Owning a Listed Building: A Brief Guide
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  England's Post-War Listed Buildings
• 
  [(Cumberland and Westmorland)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1967)
• 
  ENGLAND GUIDE TO POST WAR LISTED: A Guide to Post-war Listed Buildings