Summary
A First World War memorial unveiled in 1920, with additions made before and after the Second World War.
Description
A First World War memorial unveiled in 1920, with additions made before and after the Second World War.
MATERIALS AND PLAN: the memorial is square on plan and is constructed of white marble.
DESCRIPTION: the memorial stands on a small triangular green at the Junction of Freckenham Road, The Street and Church Lane, about 200m south of the Church of All Saints (Grade I).
The memorial is approximately 3.2m tall and is composed of an obelisk with a chamfered, three-tiered pedestal set on a three-stepped concrete plinth. The memorial stands within a square enclosure bounded by hoop and spear iron railings set on concrete coping.
The main inscription is incised on the east face of the upper tier of the pedestal and reads:
IN ABIDING MEMORY/ OF THE MEN OF/ THIS VILLAGE,/ WHO SERVED IN THE/ GREAT WAR,/ 1914-1919./ OUR GLORIOUS DEAD:.
The names of the twelve men from the parish who lost their lives are incised on the east face of the middle and lower tier. The names of thirty-three men who served are written on the north and south faces of the plinth.
The west face of the pedestal is inscribed with the dates, 1939-1945, and the names of the two parishioners who lost their lives in the Second World War are engraved below.
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 Worlington 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 erected by H G Neville and Sons and was unveiled on Thursday 4 March 1920 by Major-General the Honourable J E Lindley. The coping stones around the memorial were added in around 1933. The names of the two parishioners who lost their lives during the Second World War were subsequently added to the memorial.
Reasons for Listing
Worlington War Memorial is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
Architectural interest:
* as a well-executed memorial in the form of an obelisk;
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.
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
Oxfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
London 1: The City of London: City of London v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
ENGLAND GUIDE TO POST WAR LISTED: A Guide to Post-war Listed Buildings
Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides): Written by Charles O'Brien, 2014 Edition, Publisher: Yale University Press [Hardcover]
Cornwall (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
The Listed Buildings and Other Principal Structures at the Royal Gunpowder Mills Waltham Abbey