Summary
First World War memorial, with an addition following the Second World War, unveiled 1920.
Reasons for Designation
The Sunbury War Memorial, 1920, is listed at Grade II, for the following principal reasons:
* Historic interest: as a symbol of the great impact made by the First and Second World Wars on local communities, and as a focal point for remembrance;
* Architectural interest: a variation on a cruciform design, enriched with delicate mouldings and high-quality marble plaques;
* Group value: it is a positive element of the street scene and it has group value with the Grade II listed Manor Cottage.
History
The First World War claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of English men and affected the entire nation. A surge of public commemoration was made in the years following the end of the conflict, with memorials built to honour the dead of the locality, many of whose bodies could not be repatriated. War memorials provided a focal point for grief in the absence of, and in addition to, graves. The memorial in Sunbury upon Thames commemorates the 125 who died in the conflict, and is unusual in that one of those people was a woman: Marjorie Croysdale, a nurse who died on 2 March 1919, aged 26.
The designer of the structure is not known. It was unveiled on 11 December 1920 by Sir Philip Pilditch (1861-1948), Conservative MP for Spelthorne, and an archaeological and architectural conservationist. During the war Pilditch campaigned to raise battalions for Kitchener’s Army.
Following the Second World War an additional commemorative plaque was added to the base.
The memorial is known to have undergone restoration twice: in 1998 and 2007.
Details
First World War memorial, with an addition following the Second World War, unveiled 1920.
MATERIALS: a Portland stone cross incorporating marble on the plinth, standing on a York stone base.
DESCRIPTION: the memorial is located on the west side of Green Street in front of recreation grounds laid out in the early C20. It is a cross with a square plinth, and it stands on an octagonal base of two steps. The cross has capped arms and a crusader sword carved on the front, with the blade running down the top of the slightly tapered shaft; at its tip there is a break in the shaft, the bottom half of which has shallow fielded panels. The shaft rises from a square base with a moulded laurel wreath on each face. The plinth has a moulded dentil cornice, a stepped, ogee moulded base, and each side has an inscribed marble panel and angle pilasters enriched with moulded palm fronds.
The front face is inscribed ‘1914 – 1919 / THIS MEMORIAL / COMMEMORATES THOSE SUNBURY MEN / WHO, AT THE CALL OF KING AND COUNTRY / LEFT ALL THAT WAS DEAR TO THEM, ENDURED / HARDNESS, FACED DANGER, AND FINALLY / PASSED OUT OF THE SIGHT OF MEN BY THE / PATH OF DUTY AND SELF SACRIFICE, / GIVING UP THEIR OWN LIVES THAT OTHERS / MIGHT LIVE IN FREEDOM. / “LET THOSE WHO COME AFTER SEE TO IT / THAT THEIR NAME BE NOT FORGOTTEN.”’. And on a table below: ‘TO COMMEMORATE / THOSE WHO FELL / 1939 – 1945 / AND IN / SUBSEQUENT ENGAGEMENTS’. The plaques on the other three faces are inscribed with the names of the fallen, ordered by surname, followed by initial and rank.
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, 5 December 2016.
