Gateway, including gate, gate piers and lamp overthrow, and flanking First and Second World War memorials at the entrance to the churchyard of the Church of St Andrew, Kegworth, Leicestershire

Summary

Churchyard gate, gate piers and lamp overthrow of C19 date, flanked immediately on each side by war memorial alcoves built in 1950 to accommodate a First World War memorial of around 1919 date (left-hand side) and a Second World War memorial of 1950 (right-hand side). Stone canopies and cast-iron gates were fitted to the shrines in 1992, probably to designs by Eric Vernon Royle.

The churchyard walls immediately to the right- and left-hand side of the alcoves along with the churchyard steps and its flanking retaining walls, including handrails, are excluded from the listing.

Description

Churchyard gate, gate piers and lamp overthrow of C19 date, flanked immediately on each side by war memorial shrines built in 1950 to accommodate a First World War memorial of around 1919 date (left-hand side) and a Second World War memorial of 1950 (right-hand side). Stone canopies and cast-iron gates were fitted to the shrines in 1992, probably to designs by Eric Vernon Royle.

The churchyard walls immediately to the right- and left-hand side of the wall piers that terminate the war memorial shrines along with the churchyard steps and its flanking retaining walls, including handrails, do not form part of the listing.

MATERIALS: the gate is of cast iron construction, the lamp overthrow is of wrought iron and the gate piers are of brick with sandstone dressings and stone caps. The war memorial shrines are constructed from brick with stone canopies and stone-coped dwarf walls surmounted by shallow cast-iron balustrades over which are cast-iron gates. The war memorial tablets are of slate fixed to stone backboards.

PLAN: the gateway and flanking war memorial shrines form a linear, symmetrical composition, roughly aligned east to west, on the north side of Market Place, at the entrance to the churchyard of the Church of St Andrew (listed Grade II*).

DESCRIPTION: at the centre of the composition is the C19 entrance gateway to the churchyard of the Church of St Andrew. It consists of a pair of tall brick gate piers which has a single sandstone band and pyramidal stone caps. The piers support a pair of inverse-arched, railed, cast-iron gates with dog bars to mid-rail height, all with spearhead finials, and a decorative wrought-iron lamp overthrow with a central lantern.

The gateway is flanked immediately on each side by identical brick shrines with stone canopies and stepped, stone-coped dwarfs walls surmounted by shallow cast-iron balustrades above which are railed cast-iron gates. The left-hand side shrine accommodates the First World War memorial which consists of a nowy-headed slate tablet with incised ivy decoration and gilded inscriptions fixed to a stone backboard with a decorative swan neck pediment. The dedicatory inscription on the slate tablet reads: THEIR NAME LIVETH FOR EVERMORE / ERECTED TO THE FALLEN, BY THE SAILORS AND SOLDIERS OF KEGWORTH / 1914 - 1919 / [Names]. The Second World War memorial within the right-hand side shrine consists of two slate tablets fixed to a stone backboard which bears the relief carving of a bishops mitre and fascia (sash). Placed immediately below the carving is a square tablet listing the names of the 14 men who died and underneath this is a rectangular tablet bearing the dedicatory inscription which reads: IN MEMORY OF THE MEN OF THIS PARISH WHO / GAVE THEIR LIVES IN THE SECOND WORLD WAR / 1939 - 1945. The shrines are terminated by contemporary wall piers with flat caps which serve to delineate the composition from the adjoining churchyard walls.

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.

Local commemoration at Kegworth initially took the form of a large oak tablet which was fixed to St Andrew's churchyard wall, immediately to the left-hand side of the gateway on Market Place. Paid for by public subscription, it was unveiled on 10 June 1917 by the Bishop of Leicester. Erected some 17 months before the war officially ended, the roll of honour commemorated 29 local servicemen who had died thus far and a further 307 who were serving.

In November 1919, the oak tablet, which had subsequently been amended to commemorate the 58 local men who had died by the end of the war, was removed and placed in the church porch, with a new slate memorial installed in its place.

Following the Second World War, the British Legion, the Parish Council and the Church all considered their own memorials to the commemorate the 14 local men who had died during that conflict. At a public meeting in October 1949 it was decided to erect a memorial and place it within a newly-created shrine in St Andrew's churchyard wall, immediately to the right-hand side of the gateway. The money raised through public subscription not only financed the new memorial but it also paid for the renovation of the First World Memorial which was removed from the wall and reset within an identical shrine immediately to the left-hand side of the gateway, thus forming a small composition with the gateway itself. The two memorials were unveiled in December 1950 by the Bishop of Leicester.

In 2014 the memorials were repaired and renovated, including the cleaning of the slate panels, the re-pointing of the brick and stonework and the re-gilding of the letters in gold leaf. Prior to this, in 1992, the alcoves had been fitted with stone canopies, gates and railed balustrades. It is believed that this work was undertaken to designs of the church architect Eric Vernon Royle.

Reasons for Listing

The churchyard gate, gate piers and lamp overthrow along with the flanking war memorial alcoves at the entrance to the churchyard of the Church of St Andrew are listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Historic interest:

* as an eloquent witness to the tragic impacts of world events on this community, and the sacrifices it made in the conflicts of the C20.

Architectural interest:

* as an accomplished and well-realised architectural composition which utilises a C19 churchyard gateway around which two roadside shrines were erected;
* the roadside shrines are relatively rare examples in a war memorial context, being significantly less common than the free-standing memorials often used to commemorate the major conflicts of the C20.

Group value:

* with the Church of St Andrew (listed Grade II*).

External Links

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