War Memorial Bus Shelter

Summary

A World War II memorial bus shelter with clock tower in the art deco style, circa 1945. The shelter is built from brick, and painted.

Reasons for Designation

The Barnard's Green War Memorial Bus Shelter is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Architectural interest: it is a well-proportioned and balanced composition and a successful interpretation of the 1930s art deco style
* Artistic interest: the decorative poppies with the recessed panels are attractive, well executed and appropriate ornamentation
* Historic interest: it serves as a poignant reminder of the tragic impact of world events upon this small community

History

The bus shelter was built following the Second World War to act as a memorial to the fallen.

The great age of memorial building was in the aftermath of the First World War and was frequently done on a localised level, meaning memorials are commonly found in even the smallest settlements throughout the country. Following World War II the existing memorials were often added to and amended to commemorate the further fallen men. Memorials dedicated solely to the Second World War are far less common.

Details

The building is orientated north-south on the west of the Barnard's Green roundabout. It is rectangular in plan with a semicircular south end and a rectangular clock tower at the north end.

The road-facing elevation has three large open bays giving access to the shelter, with the clock tower set back on the right-hand side. A modern plaque to the right of the bays states: 'BECAUSE THE WAR TO END ALL WARS DIDN'T'. The clock tower has a simple square clock face in a black frame with a circular ring of line markers in lieu of numbers. The upper stage of the tower has square cut-away corners with projecting horizontal fins on the right hand side, below which the shaft of the tower returns and there is a vertical row projecting squares. The southern, semi-circular elevation is recessed from the front of the shelter and has a strip of five windows containing recessed panels with applied poppy details. The north elevation of the clock tower has two recessed panels with similar decoration. Both the main range and the clock tower have overhanging flat roofs edged in dark green paint, the rest of the exterior is painted cream.

The interior is painted black and has a tiled floor. There are three rows of red and green modern seats. There is a brass plaque with poppy decorations which is inscribed 'BARNARDS GREEN WAR MEMORIAL / 1939-1945 / DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF THE MEN / WHO MADE THE SUPREME SACRIFICE / IN THE CAUSE OF FREEDOM / AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN AND IN THE MORNING / WE WILL REMEMBER THEM'.

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, 18 January 2017.

Sources

Websites
Barnards Green Memorial Bus Shelter, accessed from http://www.ww2museums.com/article/15441/war-memorial-barnards-green.htm
War Memorials Register, accessed 17 January 2017 from http://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/32573
War Memorials Online, accessed 18 January 2017 from https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/136104

End of official list entry

All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.

Print the official list entry