Nailsworth War Memorial Clock Tower

War Memorial Clock Tower, George Street, Nailsworth, Gloucestershire

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Overview

A war memorial clock tower, designed by Peter Falconer (1916-2003), constructed in 1951-2. Read the official list entry to find out more.

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1423828
Date first listed:: 18-Feb-2015
List Entry Name:: Nailsworth War Memorial Clock Tower
Statutory Address:: War Memorial Clock Tower, George Street, Nailsworth, Gloucestershire

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1423828
Date first listed:: 18-Feb-2015
List Entry Name:: Nailsworth War Memorial Clock Tower
Statutory Address 1:: War Memorial Clock Tower, George Street, Nailsworth, Gloucestershire

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:: War Memorial Clock Tower, George Street, Nailsworth, Gloucestershire

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

County:: Gloucestershire
District:: Stroud (District Authority)
Parish:: Nailsworth
National Grid Reference:: ST8503699747

Summary

A war memorial clock tower, designed by Peter Falconer (1916-2003), constructed in 1951-2.

Reasons for Designation

Nailsworth war memorial clock tower 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 made in the conflicts of the C20 * Architectural interest: as a relatively unusual form of war memorial, particularly for its post-Second World War date; * Group value: with the related war memorial cross, further to the south of the town.

History

The clock tower was erected in 1951-2 as a memorial to the men of the civil parish of Nailsworth who fell in both the First and Second World Wars. It was designed by Peter Falconer, a prominent local and national architect who practised from nearby Stroud, and son of Arts and Crafts architect Thomas Falconer. The tower is sited prominently within a small garden at the centre of the settlement, in a location previously occupied by a memorial fountain, designed by G F Playne and built in 1862; this was resited a little to the south west to make way for the new clock tower. The structure, built as a clock tower, houses a clock by Gillett & Johnston, and two C18 bells from the old chapel of St George, which was built in 1794 and replaced in 1898 by the current Church of St George.

Details

A war memorial clock tower, designed by Peter Falconer (1916-2003), constructed in 1951-2.

MATERIALS: the tower is constructed from limestone rubble, with ashlar limestone dressings.

PLAN: the tower has a square footprint and stands within a green area in the centre of the settlement.

EXTERIOR: the clock tower, which tapers slightly towards the top, has four equal faces, built in rubble stone between ashlar quoins. To the south-western face, the moulded entrance doorway houses a three-panelled, raised and fielded timber door, to which is affixed an engraved brass plaque. The plaque reads: THIS CLOCK TOWER ERECTED / IN 1951 STANDS AS A MEMORIAL / TO ALL THOSE OF THE CIVIL / PARISH OF NAILSWORTH / WHO FELL IN THE GREAT WARS / 1914-1918 AND 1939-1945. Towards the top of each elevation a white clock face with black Roman numerals sits within a moulded stone surround. The tower terminates with a moulding, from which a plain, cylindrical pillar rises at each corner. These support an overhanging, square cap.

INTERIOR: the tower houses a clock mechanism manufactured by Gillett & Johnston with ting-tang and strike gear utilising two of the bells cast by Joseph Rudhall in 1795 for the old Chapel of St George.

This List entry has been amended to add sources for War Memorials Online and the War Memorials Register. These sources were not used in the compilation of this List entry but are added here as a guide for further reading, 10 January 2017.

Sources

Books and journals
Baggs, A P, Jurica, A R J, Sheils, W J, The Victoria History of the County of Gloucester: Volume XI: Bisley and Longtree Hundreds, (1976), 216
Verey, D, Brooks, A, The Buildings of England: Gloucestershire I: The Cotswolds, (1999), 497
Websites
War Memorials Online, accessed 10 January 2017 from https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/186491
War Memorials Register, accessed 25 November 2014 from http://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/49573

Legal

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