Stanton-by-Dale War Memorial

Summary

A C20 war memorial in the form of a tapered stone obelisk set upon a stepped plinth, located in the churchyard of the Church of St Michael and All Angels, Stanton-by-Dale, Derbyshire.

Reasons for Designation

The war memorial located in the churchyard of the Church of St Michael and All Angels, Stanton-by-Dale, Derbyshire is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Historic interest: as an eloquent witness to the tragic impacts of world events on this community, and the sacrifices it has made in the conflicts of the C20;
* Architectural interest: the memorial was created in the great age of memorial building in the aftermath of the First World War, when simple, dignified designs such as the Stanton-by- Dale memorial eloquently conveyed the massive sense of loss felt in so many parts of the country;
* Group value: the memorial has group value with the Church of St Michael and All Angels, listed at Grade II*.

History

The concept of commemorating war dead did not develop to any great extent until towards the end of the C19. Prior to then memorials were rare and were mainly dedicated to individual officers, or sometimes regiments. The first large-scale erection of war memorials dedicated to the ordinary soldier followed the Second Boer War of 1899-1902, which was the first major war following reforms to the British Army which led to regiments being recruited from local communities and with volunteer soldiers. However, it was the aftermath of the First World War that was the great age of memorial building, both as a result of the huge impact the loss of three quarters of a million British lives had on communities and 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.

The war memorial in St Michael's Churchyard, Stanton-by-Dale was unveiled on the 13th February 1921 to commemorate the thirteen men of the community who lost their lives in the First World War. The memorial was unveiled by Lt. Colonel Francis Crompton and dedicated by the Bishop of Derby. The cost of the monument, - £350 - was met by public subscription, including a substantial donation by the Crompton family of Stanton Hall. A plaque lists the names of those who died, and a second plaque was added to the monument to commemorate the fallen of the Second World War, including the crew of an aircraft which crashed in the parish during August 1944.

Details

The war memorial is sited in the churchyard of the Church of St Michael and All Angels in Stanton-by-Dale. It was unveiled in 1921.

MATERIALS: polished grey Aberdeen granite.
EXTERIOR: the memorial takes the form of a slender tapered obelisk set upon a tapered base rising from a stepped plinth. At the base of the obelisk shaft, a shallow cornice supports gabled facets to a padstone set between the obelisk and its base. The east face of the base carries a metal plaque recording the names of those who lost their lives in the First World War, the inscription reading TO THE GLORY OF GOD/ AND THE UNDYING MEMORY OF/ THE MEN OF STANTON-BY-DALE/ WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES DURING/ THE GREAT WAR 1914 - 1919/ (Names). A second plaque on the west face records the names of those lost in the Second World War with the inscription: ALSO TO THE MEMORY OF/ THE FOLLOWING MEN OF/ STANTON-BY-DALE WHO/ GAVE THEIR LIVES IN THE/ WAR 1939 - 1945/ (Names)/ AND OF THE CREW OF THE/ AIRCRAFT WHICH CRASHED/ WITHIN THE PARISH ON 31 AUG 1944/ (Names).


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, 25 January 2017.

Sources

Websites
War Memorials Register, accessed 25 January 2017 from http://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/14221
War Memorials Online, accessed 25 January 2017 from https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/109608

End of official list entry

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