Summary
First World War memorial, erected about 1920, with Second World War additions.
Description
First World War memorial erected about 1920 with Second World War additions.
Materials: stone, brick and flint
Description: Garboldisham War Memorial is prominently located in a roadside gated enclosure at the junction of Church Road and Manor Road. It comprises a hollow wheel head stone cross pattée pierced with a carving of St George and the Dragon on a tapering octagonal shaft terminating in a moulded foot with shields carved on its four faces. Beneath is a plinth with four projecting faces bearing applied inscription tablets with apexes. The whole stands on a two-stepped square base within an enclosure bound by a brick and flint wall to the back and sides, and metal railings with an access gate to the front. The enclosure is cobbled with flint paving. The plinth bears the incised and painted inscriptions on applied stone tablets.
The incised lettering of the inscription on the front face of the plinth reads: MCMXIV/ MCMXIX// PRAISE GOD/ FOR THESE MEN OF/ GALBOLDISHAM/ FOR THEY/ LOVED LIBERTY/ MORE THAN LIFE/ & WERE FAITHFUL/ UNTO DEATH//
The names of the fallen appear on the other three faces of the plinth with the rear face bearing the Second World War addition which reads: 1939 – 1945/ (NAMES)
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 erected in Garboldisham in about 1920 as a permanent testament to the sacrifice made by 18 local servicemen who fell in the First World War. Following the Second World War the names of two local servicemen who died in that conflict were added to the memorial. The name A C Atkins was added to the memorial in 2014 as part of a funded community project. This project, headed by the Parish Council was awarded £500, which went towards cleaning the memorial, adding a name to it, and adding to the walls of the enclosure an incised tablet that read “Renovated in 2014/ by the/ community of Garboldisham/ to commemorate/ the great war 1914 – 1918.”
Reasons for Listing
Garboldisham War Memorial, erected around 1920, with Second World War additions 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 sacrifice it made in the conflicts of the C20.
Architectural interest:
* as a detailed and well-executed stone wheel-head cross with wheel pierced by a carving of St George and the Dragon.
Group value:
* with the Grade II listed Fox Inn.
External Links
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Recommended Books
Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of Historic Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas
Huddersfield in 50 Buildings
[(Shropshire)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1958)
County Durham (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England) by Elizabeth Williamson Nikolaus Pevsner(1983-03-11)
Wiltshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
Staffordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)