Reasons for Designation
The memorial to Violet Charlotte Johnson MBE of 1923, located in Winton Hill cemetery, Stockbridge, has been designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* A simple yet elegant memorial which forms the focal point of the small Winton Hill cemetery and is a good example of an early C20 monument.
* An unusual example of a private memorial cross designed by the important architect, Sir Edwin Lutyens.
* A memorial to an individual who, as the inscription recounts, was noted for her work with the wounded of the First World War, and is therefore of historic interest.
Details
STOCKBRIDGE
307/0/10005 WINTON HILL
08-APR-08 WINTON HILL
Memorial to Violet Charlotte Johnson M
BE in Stockbridge Cemetery
II
Stone memorial cross to Violet Charlotte Johnson MBE, 1923, commissioned by her husband, Herbert Johnson, and designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens.
DESCRIPTION: Stone cross on an elegant slender and tapering hexagonal shaft. Stepped hexagonal base, the upper two sections of which are inscribed on the three westerly facing sides. Four-point cross, again hexagonal in section, draped with a carved stone wreath. Inscription, in capital letters, reads:
(upper section:) Sacred to the memory of Violet Charlotte Johnson MBE a gracious lady of England/Beloved of all who knew her for her rare qualities of heart and mind endowed with every/capacity for the enjoyment of life, she gave herself to the service of others and her solicitude/during the Great War for the wounded soldiers in her hospitals at Marsh Court and/Stockbridge contributed to her untimely end
(middle section:) Erected by her husband Herbert Johnson Esq. of Marsh Court
(lower section:) The souls of the righteous are in the hand of God/Dedicated 5th August 1923
The memorial is the focal point of the Winton Hill cemetery located at the east end of the single avenue.
HISTORY: The memorial to Violet Charlotte Johnson was erected in 1923 by her husband, financier Herbert Johnson. Violet Johnson was awarded an MBE for her services in the care of wounded soldiers from the First World War. As is recorded on her memorial she was associated with hospitals in both Stockbridge and at her house, Marsh Court in neighbouring Kings Somborne. It is assumed that she is buried in the cemetery, but this has not been confirmed.
The memorial was designed by the celebrated architect, Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens (1869-1944). Lutyens had connections with both Stockbridge and the Johnsons. He designed the village war memorial in 1921 (Grade II), which is located at the foot of Winton Hill. Lutyens also built the large country house of Marsh Court for Herbert and Violet Johnson in 1901-05, which he subsequently extended in 1924-26. Marsh Court (now known as Marshcourt School) is listed at Grade I. Lutyens is well known for his country houses, a number of which were designed in collaboration with the important garden designer, Gertrude Jekyll. He was knighted in 1918 for his work in Delhi (where he advised on the planning of the new capital and designed government buildings and the Viceroy's House), and for his unpaid work for the Imperial War Graves Commission (he was responsible for 126 war cemeteries in Europe, perhaps most famously the cemetery at Etaples.) Perhaps his most famous memorial is the Cenotaph in Whitehall, London, designed in 1919 (listed Grade I).
SOURCES:
Lutyens: The work of the English architect Sir Edwin Lutyens (1869-1944), Arts Council exhibition catalogue, 1981; p.196.
N Pevsner and D Lloyd: The Buildings of England: Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, 1985.
REASONS FOR DESIGNATION
The memorial to Violet Charlotte Johnson MBE of 1923, located in Winton Hill cemetery, Stockbridge, is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* A simple yet elegant memorial which forms the focal point of the small Winton Hill cemetery and is a good example of an early C20 monument.
* An unusual example of a private memorial cross designed by the important architect, Sir Edwin Lutyens.
* A memorial to an individual who, as the inscription recounts, was noted for her work with the wounded of the First World War, and is therefore of historic interest.
