Damerham War Memorial

Summary

First World War memorial with Second World War additions.

Reasons for Designation

Damerham war memorial 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 sacrifices it has made in the conflicts of the C20;
* Design: as an elegant and well-proportioned stone latin cross and hexagonal plinth.

History

The aftermath of the First World War saw the biggest single wave of public commemoration ever with tens of thousands of memorials erected across England, 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.

One such memorial was erected in Damerham, during the early 1920s, to commemorate the fallen from this conflict. Damerham war memorial was originally positioned some 100m west of its present position. On the Ordnance Survey map of 1926 it can be seen just west of the junction with the High Street and a postcard of c 1930 shows the memorial in this position. It is not known when the memorial was moved to its present position adjacent to the village hall and within a small hedged garden.

A slate plaque was added in front of the cross repeating the inscriptions and names of those who lost their lives in both world wars.

Details

=The war memorial stands in a prominent location by the village hall in East End, Damerham and within a small hedged garden. The memorial comprises a stone latin cross surmounting a tapered column set on a four level hexagonal plinth of two deep levels and two shallower levels. This in turn is set upon a square stone base. A carved stone shield with the monogram 'IHS' is fixed to the shaft.

Inscriptions and names are carved on the south faces of the plinths; the uppermost reads: IN GRATEFUL MEMORY/ OF OUR MEN WHO FELL/ IN THE GREAT WAR/ 1914-1918. The lower face reads: ALSO OF OUR OFFICERS AND/ MEN WHO FELL IN THE WAR OF/ 1939-1945. On the north face the inscription reads: GREATER LOVE/ HATH NO MAN/ THAN THIS.

Further names are recorded on the other faces with 18 in total on the memorial from the First World War and six from the Second World War. A slate plaque was later added, included in the listing, situated beside the front of the cross, which repeats the names and words inscribed on the south faces of the plinth.


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, 6 December 2016.

Sources

Websites
Damerham War Memorial, accessed 4 Oct 2015 from http://warmemorials.hampshire.org.uk/IndexesWW2/places/places_d/Damerham.htm
War Memorials Register, accessed 06/12/2016 from http://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/48709
War Memorials Online, accessed 06/12/2016 from https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/76492

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