Aston Clinton War Memorial

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Overview

War memorial cross, 1921, designed and built by Newman and Harper of Aylesbury. Read the official list entry to find out more.

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1428922
Date first listed:: 04-Nov-2015
List Entry Name:: Aston Clinton War Memorial

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1428922
Date first listed:: 04-Nov-2015
List Entry Name:: Aston Clinton War Memorial
Location Description:: Junction of London Road and Brook Street, Aston Clinton, Buckinghamshire HP22 5HG

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

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

District:: Buckinghamshire (Unitary Authority)
Parish:: Aston Clinton
National Grid Reference:: SP8751012208

Summary

War memorial cross, 1921, designed and built by Newman and Harper of Aylesbury.

Reasons for Designation

The Aston Clinton War Memorial, 1921, by Newman and Harper of Aylesbury, is listed at Grade II, for the following principal reasons: * Architectural interest: a recognisable symbol of commemoration, well executed in good-quality materials; * Historic interest: a poignant reminder of the tragic impact made on local communities by the First, and then the Second, World Wars.

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.

A plot on the side of the main road through the village was chosen, and the land was donated by Nathan Charles Rothschild. The cost of the memorial was £230, which was raised by public subscription. An unveiling ceremony took place on Sunday 3 April 1921, led by Major JC Swann and attended by Lord Rothschild and a great number of local people.

Details

War memorial cross, 1921, designed and built by Newman and Harper of Aylesbury.

MATERIALS: built from pale grey Cornish granite.

DESCRIPTION: the memorial is positioned within a semi-circular roadside plot, bounded by box hedging to the rear and a row of eight granite piers linked with iron chains in front. It consists of a Celtic cross on a tapered plinth and a square base upon a grass hillock. The granite has a roughly hewn finish, except for a smoothly dressed panel on the front of the plinth, which is inscribed in applied lettering: ‘TO / THE GLORY OF GOD / AND IN MEMORIAL OF THE MEN OF / ASTON CLINTON / WHO FELL IN THE GREAT WAR / 1914-1918’ followed by the names of 30 men, ordered by surname. Below that: ‘1939-1945’ followed by the names of 13 men, and the inscription ‘GREATER LOVE HATH NO MAN THAN THIS / THAT A MAN LAY DOWN HIS LIFE FOR HIS FRIENDS’.

Sources

Websites
Aston Clinton, Imperial War Museum National Inventory of War Memorials. , accessed 21/07/205 from http://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/8009
Roll of Honour, Aston Clinton - War Memorials., accessed 21/07/2015 from http://www.roll-of-honour.com/Buckinghamshire/AstonClinton.html
Other
Report on the decision to erect a WWI memorial, The Bucks Herald, 24 January 1920, p12
'War Memorial Unveiled', The Bucks Herald, 9 April 1920, p8

Legal

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