Wimbledon Common (King's Royal Rifle Corps) War Memorial

Wimbledon Common, London, SW19 4UR

Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places

Overview

War memorial, unveiled 1929, in the form of a small pillar with attached plaques. Read the official list entry to find out more.

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1445581
Date first listed:: 03-Jul-2017
List Entry Name:: Wimbledon Common (King's Royal Rifle Corps) War Memorial
Statutory Address:: Wimbledon Common, London, SW19 4UR

User submitted image — Uploaded by Dominic Martin This photo may not represent the current condition of the site
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Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1445581
Date first listed:: 03-Jul-2017
List Entry Name:: Wimbledon Common (King's Royal Rifle Corps) War Memorial
Statutory Address 1:: Wimbledon Common, London, SW19 4UR

This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.

Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.

For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.

Understanding list entries

Corrections and minor amendments

This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.

For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.

Understanding list entries

Corrections and minor amendments

Location

Statutory Address:: Wimbledon Common, London, SW19 4UR

The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

County:: Greater London Authority
District:: Merton (London Borough)
Parish:: Non Civil Parish
National Grid Reference:: TQ2267471759

Summary

War memorial, unveiled 1929, in the form of a small pillar with attached plaques.

Reasons for Designation

Wimbledon (King's Royal Rifle Corps) War Memorial 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 King's Royal Rifles Corps, and the sacrifices they made in the First World War; * Design: as a modest but dignified war memorial.

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 on Wimbledon Common in honour of the King's Royal Rifle Corps; the Corps used the Common as a training ground prior to service on the Eastern Front. The memorial was unveiled in 1929.

In 2002 it was refurbished and cleaned with the aid of a grant from the War Memorials Trust.

Details

Short stone pillar with a slightly pyramidal top, standing on a square platform. The front of the memorial bears a brass plaque of the King's Royal Rifle Corps regimental badge, which is in the form of a Maltese cross with crown, with the various campaigns of the Corps listed on the arms. The back of the memorial bears a plaque with the inscription: TO THE MEMORY OF ALL RANKS / OF THE RESERVE BATTALIONS OF / THE KINGS ROYAL RIFLE CORPS / WHO TRAINED HERE AND / AFTERWARD GAVE THEIR LIVES / FOR KING AND COUNTRY / 1916 - 1918.

This List entry has been amended to add the source for War Memorials Online. This source was not used in the compilation of this List entry but is added here as a guide for further reading, 20 July 2017.

Sources

Websites
War Memorials Online, accessed 20 July 2017 from https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/111469
War Memorials Register, accessed 7 March 2017 from http://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/12192
War Memorials Trust - King's Royal Rifle Corps, accessed 7 March 2017 from http://www.warmemorials.org/search-grants/?gID=260

Legal

This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.