Pirton War Memorial

Summary

Pirton War memorial, unveiled in April 1920 and dedicated to the fallen of the First World War with later inscriptions added to commemorate those who fell in the Second World War.

Reasons for Designation

Pirton war memorial, unveiled in April 1920, set within the grounds of Church of St Mary, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

* Historic interest: as an eloquent witness to the tragic impact of world events on the local community, and the sacrifice it made in the conflicts of the C20;
* Design: as a modest yet well-executed obelisk memorial.

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.

Pirton war memorial was unveiled in April 1920, and was erected in memory of 30 local men who fell in the First World War (1914-18). The dates covered by the memorial range from 1916-1919, the final date commemorating a soldier who died following the Armistice of wounds sustained in battle. After the Second World War (1939-45), the names of six of the fallen were added to the memorial. The war memorial is prominently located to the north of the Grade I listed Church of St Mary.

Details

Unveiled in April 1920, Pirton war memorial was built to the designs of G Maile and Son of Euston Road, London. The memorial stands at around 3 metres in height, is square in plan and takes the form of a roughly-hewn granite stone obelisk on a chamfered-topped plinth set above a base and a two-stepped platform. The plinth bears a set of four cast-bronze tablets, three of which list the names of the 30 men who fell in the First World War (1914-18) with another carrying the inscription ‘IN MEMORY OF / THE MEN WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES / DURING THE WAR / 1939-1945’ beneath which are the names of six of the fallen from the Second World War. All of the tablets were added to the memorial following the Second World War; the three which commemorate the fallen from the First World War covered over the names which were originally inscribed into the granite by the stonemasons in 1920. In 2009 the Pirton War Memorial Group added new steps, stone borders, gates and wooden fences to the memorial. The memorial is situated approximately 40 metres from the Church of St Mary, at the north side of the churchyard facing Crab Tree Lane.

This List entry has been amended to add the source for War Memorials Register. This source was not used in the compilation of this List entry but is added here as a guide for further reading, 12 January 2017.

Sources

Websites
Roll of Honour, accessed 21 September 2015 from http://www.roll-of-honour.com/Hertfordshire/Pirton.html
Pirton, Hertfordshire, Local Website, accessed 21 September 2015 from http://www.pirton.org.uk/wmg_history_gallery.html
Herts at War, Great War Commemoration, accessed 21 September 2015 from http://www.hertsatwar.co.uk/Pirton-Village-Memorial
War Memorials Online, accessed 21 September 2015 from https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/197324
War Memorials Register, accessed 12 January 2017 from http://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/3829

End of official list entry

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