Summary
First World War memorial, erected in 1920 on the former village Reading Room, Station Road, re-sited on the Village Nursery School in 2017.
The Second World War memorial plaque of 1991 is excluded from the listing.
Description
First World War memorial, erected in 1920 on the former Reading Room, re-erected on the Village Nursery School in 2017.
MATERIALS: of marble.
DESCRIPTION: the First World War memorial is in the form of an aediculed inscription tablet with scrolled brackets, apron, recessed panelled pilasters and a broken triangular pediment. It frames a marble tablet inscribed with the names of 57 men and 1 woman. Within the tympanum is the relief of a Latin cross flanked by the dates 1914 and 1919. Immediately underneath is the inscription ‘FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH’, beneath which are the names of the six men who died. Underneath again is the inscription ‘FOR KING AND COUNTRY’, followed by the names of 56 men and 1 woman who served and returned.
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 in the Lincolnshire village of Great Coates in 1920 to commemorate the six local men who died along with the 51 men and one woman who served and returned. The memorial, which took the form of a marble tablet designed and sculpted by Chris Allison, was placed on the external wall of the village Reading Room (built in 1907) on Station Road. In the early C20 much of the village and surrounding farmland was owned by Sir Richard Sutton's Settled Estates who built the Reading Room and also, along with public subscription, contributed towards the cost of the war memorial.
In 1991 a second tablet (not of special interest) was added to commemorate the two local men who died during the Second World War.
When the Reading Room, latterly used as a village hall, was sold for residential development in 2013, the memorials were removed and placed in storage. In 2017 they were re-sited on the principal elevation of the Village Nursery School (formerly the C19 Village School) in Station Road.
Reasons for Listing
Great Coates First World War memorial, erected in 1920 on the village Reading Room, re-erected on the Village Nursery School in 2017, is 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 war memorial which takes the form of an aediculed inscription tablet.
External Links
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Recommended Books
Liverpool: Pevsner City Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)
London 1: The City of London: City of London v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
Norfolk 1: Norwich and North-East: Norwich and North-east v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
Surrey (The Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
Gwent/Monmouthshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Wales)
Nottinghamshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)