Summary
A war memorial lych gate in vernacular style. Dedicated in January 1920.
Description
A war memorial lych gate in vernacular style. Erected in 1919 and dedicated in January 1920.
MATERIALS: timber-framed with a shingled roof on a flint base with stone coping and quoins. The inscriptions are in bronze.
PLAN: a gabled arch with pentices to front and rear.
EXTERIOR: the north-west side facing the street has a louvred gable with a central post and side tension braces, the left one inscribed with the date 1914, the right one 1918. The plain wooden barge boards have a carved finial and pendant. The corner posts have diagonal tension braces on wooden corbels.
The south-east side facing the church is similar but undated.
The sides have trefoil-arched openings above plank infill panels.
INTERIOR: panels attached to the side walls have the following inscriptions.
The east side bronze panel:
WOODMANSTERNE MEMORIAL
THE GREAT WAR 1914-1918
TO THE GLORY OF GOD
AND IN MEMORY OF THE FOLLOWING MEN OF THIS
PARISH WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES FOR KING AND COUNTRY
The names follow in alphabetical order. Followed by:
REQUIESCANT IN PACE
The west side bronze panel:
WOODMANSTERNE MEMORIAL
THE SECOND WORLD WAR 1939-1945
TO THE GLORY OF GOD
AND IN MEMORY OF THE FOLLOWING MEN OF THIS
PARISH WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES FOR KING AND COUNTRY
The names follow in alphabetical order with additional names on two side
panels.
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, 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 war memorial was raised at Woodmansterne as a permanent testament to the sacrifice made by members of the local community who lost their lives in the First World War. The church lych gate was erected in 1919 as the parish war memorial to those who gave their lives in the First World War. It was dedicated in January 1920 by Canon Turner, Rector of Sutton. Subsequently the list of names was enlarged by those who perished during the Second World War.
Reasons for Listing
The War Memorial Lych Gate outside the Church of St Peter, Woodmansterne 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 made in the conflicts of the C20.
Architectural interest:
* as an unaltered war memorial in the less usual form of a lych gate, in vernacular style constructed of good quality and varied materials.
External Links
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Recommended Books
Wiltshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
Worcestershire Revised Edition (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
Somerset: North and Bristol: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
Department for Communities Listed Historic Buildings of Northern Ireland: Information Guide for the 2nd Survey of Historic Buildings
Cumbria: Cumberland, Westmorland and Furness (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
Liverpool: Pevsner City Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)