Summary
First World War memorial, built after 1919.
Description
First World War memorial, built after 1919.
MATERIALS: Cotswold stone.
DESCRIPTION: Compton Abdale War Memorial is located on the embankment adjacent to the path leading to the Grade II*-listed Church of St Oswald. Two Grade II and one Grade II*-listed monuments are situated within the churchyard, and the memorial is also located within close proximity to several other Grade II-listed buildings and structures in the village.
The memorial, built from Cotswold stone, consists of a wheel-headed cross on a tapering shaft. A small Latin cross in a roundel is carved in low relief at the intersection of the cross-head. The cross shaft rises from a chamfered plinth, square on plan, on a three-stepped base.
The north face of the plinth bears the incised inscription: ERECTED TO THE / MEMORY OF THE MEN / OF THIS PARISH WHO / FELL IN THE GREAT WAR 1914-1918 / followed by the names of the six fallen and THEIR NAME WILL LIVE FOR EVERMORE. The east and west faces read THE FOLLOWING / MEN SERVED IN THE / GREAT WAR followed by the names of those 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 at Compton Abdale as a permanent testament to the sacrifice made by six members of the local community who lost their lives in the First World War as well as commemorating a further 19 servicemen who served and returned.
The memorial was possibly built by Messrs James Green and Son, who were also involved with the Grade II-listed war memorials at Denwick and Embleton in Northumberland. In 1948 the base of the memorial was repaired and further works took place in 1979 and 1980. The memorial was cleaned in collaboration with War Memorials Trust in 2018.
Reasons for Listing
Compton Abdale War Memorial 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 simple yet elegant example of a plain wheel-head cross type of memorial.
Group value:
* with the Grade II*-listed Church of St Oswald; the Grade II* and Grade II-listed headstones and tombs in the churchyard; and several structures and buildings nearby which are listed Grade II.
External Links
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
Devon (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
London 1: The City of London: City of London v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
Suffolk: East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
Setting up a Listed Building Heritage Partnership Agreement: Historic England Advice Note 5
Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990
Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)