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Latitude: 53.4163 / 53°24'58"N
Longitude: -3.0327 / 3°1'57"W
OS Eastings: 331457
OS Northings: 391549
OS Grid: SJ314915
Mapcode National: GBR 7X8Y.62
Mapcode Global: WH876.DD2C
Plus Code: 9C5RCX88+GW
Entry Name: Egremont War Memorial
Listing Date: 4 January 2022
Grade: II
Source: Historic England
Source ID: 1479294
ID on this website: 101479294
Location: Egremont, Wirral, Merseyside, CH44
County: Wirral
Electoral Ward/Division: Seacombe
Parish: Non Civil Parish
Built-Up Area: Wallasey
Traditional County: Cheshire
Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): Merseyside
First World War memorial, erected in 1921.
War memorial commemorating the First World War, erected in 1921.
DESCRIPTION: the memorial is of rough-hewn Cornish granite and takes the form of a wheel-head cross with a longsword, blade down, carved in shallow relief on the front, north-east face. The sword has a trefoil to the pommel and at each end of the cross guard. The cross shaft rises from a tapering, four-sided plinth, which stands on a square, single-step base.
The dedication is in leaded lettering set in a smoothed panel on the front face of the plinth. It reads, IN / GRATEFUL MEMORY / OF / THE MEN OF EGREMONT / WHO MADE THE SUPREME SACRIFICE / IN THE GREAT WAR 1914-1918 / ERECTED BY THE PARISHIONERS / MCMXXI / GREATER LOVE HATH NO MAN THAN THIS.
The war memorial was erected in 1921 by parishioners of St John’s Church in whose churchyard it stands. It commemorated the men of Egremont who had lost their lives fighting in the First World War.
The monument is carved in Cornish granite with a low-relief carved sword resembling the bronze longsword on the Cross of Sacrifice, the Commonwealth war memorial designed in 1918 by Sir Reginald Blomfield for the Imperial War Graves Commission (later the Commonwealth War Graves Commission). The appearance of the memorial strongly suggests that it was a design supplied by the firm of G Maile and Son Ltd of Euston Road, London, who referred to themselves as The Cornish Granite Sculptors. They were known as ecclesiastical furnishers and sculptors, including churchyard memorials, and were also responsible for designing many war memorials across the country, a number of which are very similar to the Egremont War Memorial.
The war memorial stands towards the front of the churchyard of St John’s Church (Grade II) where it is visible from the road. The church is currently (2021) redundant.
Egremont War Memorial, Wirral, erected in 1921, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
Historic interest:
* as an eloquent witness to the tragic impact of world events on this local community, and the sacrifice it made in the First World War.
Architectural interest:
* a dignified, simple memorial in the form of a wheel-head cross with a shallow-relief longsword, blade down, in Cornish granite, providing a fitting tribute to the lives lost.
Group value:
* the memorial has group value with St John’s Church (Grade II) in whose churchyard it stands.
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.
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