Neston War Memorial

The churchyard, Church of St Mary and St Helen, High Street, Neston, Ellesmere Port, CH64 9UB

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

Overview

First World War memorial cross, unveiled 1920, with later additions for the Second World War. Read the official list entry to find out more.

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1451520
Date first listed:: 09-Jan-2018
List Entry Name:: Neston War Memorial
Statutory Address:: The churchyard, Church of St Mary and St Helen, High Street, Neston, Ellesmere Port, CH64 9UB

User submitted image — Uploaded by War Memorials Online This photo may not represent the current condition of the site
View all

Location

Location of this list entry and nearby places that are also listed. Use our map search to find more listed places.

This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale.

What is the National Heritage List for England?

The National Heritage List for England is a unique register of our country's most significant historic buildings and sites. The places on the list are protected by law and most are not open to the public.

The list includes:

🏠 Buildings
🏰 Scheduled monuments
🌳 Parks and gardens
⚔️ Battlefields
⚓ Shipwrecks

Find out more about listing

Historic England Archive

Search over 1 million photographs and drawings from the 1850s to the present day using our images archive.

Find Photos

Also of interest

Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1451520
Date first listed:: 09-Jan-2018
List Entry Name:: Neston War Memorial
Statutory Address 1:: The churchyard, Church of St Mary and St Helen, High Street, Neston, Ellesmere Port, CH64 9UB

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:: The churchyard, Church of St Mary and St Helen, High Street, Neston, Ellesmere Port, CH64 9UB

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

District:: Cheshire West and Chester (Unitary Authority)
Parish:: Neston
National Grid Reference:: SJ2916077463

Summary

First World War memorial cross, unveiled 1920, with later additions for the Second World War.

Reasons for Designation

Neston War Memorial, which stands in the churchyard of the Church of St Mary and St Helen, 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 local community, and the sacrifice it made in the conflicts of the C20.

Architectural interest:

* a richly ornamented wheel-head cross, in the Celtic style.

Group value:

* with the Church of St Mary and St Helen (Grade II*) and the Churchyard Sundial West of the Church of St Mary and St Helen and the Hearse House north-west of the Church of St Mary and St Helen, both Grade II-listed.

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 which meant that the memorials provided the main focus of the grief felt at this great loss. One such memorial was raised at Neston 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 unveiled on 29 August 1920. The ceremony was attended by the Dean of Chester and conducted by the Vicar, Reverend LW Throughton. The memorial was erected by EO Griffiths of Liveprool, who also built the statue of Llywelyn ap Iorwerth, Lancaster Square, Conwy (Grade II). The memorial was designed by the architects Willink and Thicknesse and cost £175. Railings enclosing the memorial were produced by Peaks Ltd at a cost of £48. Other memorials in the church were unveiled on the same day.

Following the Second World War a dedication to mark those who died in that conflict was added to the memorial.

Details

The memorial is located within a gated and railed enclosure in the north-east corner of the churchyard of the Church of St Mary and St Helen (Grade II*). The approximately 5m tall wheel-head cross is carved in sandstone, rising from a tapering plinth that stands on a three-stepped square base. The cross head is ornamented with carved decoration including a crown of thorns around the wheel face and rose buds on the cross arms, whilst the front face of the cross shaft is decorated with intricately carved intertwining foliage patterns including oak leaves.

The principal dedicatory inscription incised into the front face of the plinth reads TO THE GLORY OF GOD/ AND IN IMPERISHABLE MEMORY/ OF THE MEN OF THIS PARISH/ (WHOSE NAMES ARE RECORDED/ IN THE CHURCH) WHO LAID DOWN/ THEIR LIVES IN THE GREAT WAR/ 1914 - 1919/ THEIR BODIES ARE BURIED IN PEACE/ BUT THEIR NAME LIVETH FOR EVERMORE.

The later inscription on the south-eastern face of the plinth reads ALSO/ OF THE MEN OF THIS PARISH/ WHO LAID DOWN THEIR LIVES/ IN THE GREAT WAR/ 1939 – 1945.

A plaque behind the south-eastern side of the memorial enclosure records the death of a serviceman who lost his life during the Falklands conflict (1982), on the ship HMS Coventry.

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, 15 January 2018.

Sources

Websites
War Memorials Online, accessed 15 January 2018 from https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/120009
War Memorials Register, accessed 11 October 2017 from http://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/2571
Other
Cheshire Observer, Saturday 4 September 1920
Chester Chronicle, Saturday 4 September 1920

Legal

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