Summary
First World War memorial, 1919, with Second World War additions. It was designed and built AC Stephenson of Woodbridge.
The late-C20 iron railings enclosing the memorial are not of special interest and are therefore excluded from the listing.
Description
First World War memorial, 1919, with Second World War additions. It was designed and built by AC Stephenson of Woodbridge.
MATERIAL: Portland stone.
DESCRIPTION: Hasketon War Memorial stands in a prominent roadside position at the junction of Blacksmiths Road and Church Road.
The memorial stands 2.7m high and comprises a Celtic wheel-head cross atop a shaft which tapers in rectangular section from a trapezoidal plinth, the whole standing on a two-stepped base. The shaft, arms and wheel of the cross are decorated with elaborately carved knotwork.
The main inscription is in incised and black-painted lettering on the west face of the plinth and reads: THIS MONUMENT / IS ERECTED IN / PROUD AND GRATEFUL / REMEMBRANCE OF / HASKETON HEROES / WHO FELL IN THE GREAT WAR / 1914 – 1919, while the top step of the base is inscribed: 1939 - 1945. The names of the 26 soldiers who died in the First World War are inscribed on the plinth's north and south faces, while the three names of the Second World War dead are inscribed on the top step of the base.
The late-C20 iron railings enclosing the war memorial are not of special interest and are therefore excluded from the listing.
History
The aftermath of the First World War saw the biggest single wave of public commemoration ever with tens of thousands of war 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 Hasketon in Suffolk as a permanent testament to the sacrifice made by the 26 men of the parish who died during the conflict. Designed and built by AC Stephenson of Woodbridge, it was unveiled and dedicated on 7 December 1919 by the Reverend Canon CD Lawrence.
Following the Second World War the names of three parishioners who died in that conflict were added to the memorial.
Reasons for Listing
Hasketon War Memorial, erected in 1919 to a design by AC Stephenson of Woodbridge, with Second World War additions, 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 a Celtic wheel-head cross.
External Links
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Recommended Books
ENGLAND GUIDE TO POST WAR LISTED: A Guide to Post-war Listed Buildings
Liverpool: Pevsner City Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)
The green guide for historic buildings: how to improve the environmental performance of listed and historic buildings
Hertfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
Warwickshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)