Summary
Pillar war memorial, 1920.
Description
Pillar war memorial, 1920.
MATERIALS: constructed from grey granite.
PLAN: the memorial stands on a triangle of grass on a road junction to the west of the village, and approximately 180m north-west of the Church of St Ethelbert (Grade II*).
DESCRIPTION: the memorial comprises a large roughly-hewn pillar with a sloping head, mounted upon a substantial plinth and a concrete base. It stands approximately 2.4m tall.
One face of the pillar has a finely-hewn panel, inscribed in leaded lettering: THE GREAT WAR / 1914-1918. / IN HONOURED MEMORY OF / (NAMES) / “LIVE THOU FOR ENGLAND / WE FOR ENGLAND DIED.” / ALSO / (NAME) / 1939-1945 / (NAMES) / MAN’S INHUMANITY TO MAN / MAKES COUNTLESS THOUSANDS / MOURN.
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 the official policy of not repatriating the dead: memorials, therefore, provided the main focus of the grief felt at this great loss.
One such memorial was raised at Herringswell as a permanent testament to the sacrifice made by the members of the local community who lost their lives in the First World War.
The memorial was constructed by HG Neville of Mildenhall, and was dedicated by Reverend W Manning in a service on Saturday 31 July 1920.
The names of two parishioners who fell during the Second World War were subsequently added to the memorial.
Reasons for Listing
Herringswell War Memorial, 1920, 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:
* an unusual example of a roughly-hewn granite pillar type of war memorial which survives unaltered.
Group value:
* with the Grade II*-listed Church of St Ethelbert.
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
Kent: West and the Weald: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
Oxfordshire: North and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
Devon (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
[(Bedfordshire, Huntingdon and Peterborough)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1968)
Wiltshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
Surrey (The Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)