Swanbourne War Memorial

Mursley Road, Swanbourne, Buckinghamshire, MK17 0SR

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

Overview

First World War memorial, 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:: 1427659
Date first listed:: 06-Aug-2015
List Entry Name:: Swanbourne War Memorial
Statutory Address:: Mursley Road, Swanbourne, Buckinghamshire, MK17 0SR

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1427659
Date first listed:: 06-Aug-2015
List Entry Name:: Swanbourne War Memorial
Statutory Address 1:: Mursley Road, Swanbourne, Buckinghamshire, MK17 0SR

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:: Mursley Road, Swanbourne, Buckinghamshire, MK17 0SR

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

District:: Buckinghamshire (Unitary Authority)
Parish:: Swanbourne
National Grid Reference:: SP8010127254

Summary

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

Reasons for Designation

Swanbourne War Memorial, which stands at the junction of Winslow Road and Mursley Road, Swanbourne, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons: * Historic interest: as an eloquent witness to the tragic impact of world events on this community, and the sacrifice it has made in the conflicts of the C20; * Design: an elegant and well-proportioned obelisk; * Group value: with the Church of St Swithun (Grade II*-listed).

History

Erected in memory of all the men of Swanbourne who served during the First World War, the memorial was unveiled on 26 September 1920 by Admiral the Hon ER Fremantle KCB CMG. Fremantle had lived in Swanbourne since the 1860s, when not on service at sea, and is buried there. His son, Second Lt TFH Fremantle, died on 17 October 1915 and is commemorated on the memorial. Inscriptions for the Second World War were added at a later date. Minor repairs were carried out in 2010, funded by War Memorials Trust.

Details

Swanbourne War Memorial stands in a small grassed area beside the junction of Winslow Road and Mursley Road, in a prominent position in the village opposite the Church of St Swithun (Grade II*-listed). Five concrete bollards connected by a chain demarcate the front of the area.

The memorial is a Portland stone obelisk, c4m tall, which rises from a two-stage, moulded, plinth. The plinth stands on a two-stepped, square, base. A wreath is carved in relief at the top of the obelisk on the front face, below which is inscribed 1914/ 1918. The names of all of the 67 men who served during the First World War are inscribed on the faces of the obelisk.

Carved on the front face of the upper stage of the plinth, the principal dedication reads IN HONOUR OF THE MEN/ OF SWANBOURNE/ WHO SERVED THEIR KING/ AND COUNTRY IN THE/ GREAT WAR 1914-1918. A stone plaque which lies on the top step of the base is inscribed DIED IN THE WAR/ 1939-1945/ (2 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, 11 January 2017.

Sources

Websites
H. W. Richmond, ‘Fremantle, Sir Edmund Robert (1836–1929)’, rev. Roger T. Stearn, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008, accessed 29/05/2015 from http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/33268
Swanbourne History, Thomas Francis Halford Fremantle, accessed 29/05/2015 from http://www.swanbournehistory.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/WW1-Thomas-Francis-Halford-Fremantle.pdf
War Memorials Online, accessed 11 January 2017 from https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/138017
War Memorials Register, accessed 29/05/2015 from http://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/7963

Legal

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