Jacksdale War Memorial

Summary

Jacksdale war memorial, unveiled in 1921 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

Jacksdale war memorial, unveiled in 1921 and situated at the junction of Main Road and Wagstaff Lane, 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 substantial and well-executed memorial with original and replica sculptural work of high quality.

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.
Jacksdale war memorial was unveiled in 1921 in memory of 48 local men from Pye Hill, Jacksdale and Westwood who fell in the First World War (1914-18). The memorial was built to the designs of monumental masons Beresford & Son at a cost of £440, raised by public subscription. Following the Second World War (1939-45) the names of 20 of the fallen were added to the monument and the original panels were replaced with uniform slate tablets. In 1959 the original Carrara marble statue of a soldier which adorned the memorial was destroyed in a storm, leaving only the plinth and the memorial tablets until 1997, at which time the memorial was renovated and the soldier was replaced with an ornate finial cap. In 2009, following a local campaign, a carefully-studied replica of the original statue of the soldier was reinstated on top of the original plinth, this taking the place of the earlier finial cap. Following the reinstatement of the soldier monument, the Jacksdale memorial was rededicated in a ceremony held on 14 June 2009.

Details

Jacksdale war memorial, built in 1921 to the designs of monumental masons Beresford & Son.

MATERIALS: Stancliffe stone plinth with replacement slate panels and Portland stone statue.

PLAN: square in plan-form.

DESCRIPTION: The memorial is positioned prominently in the centre of the village at the junction of Main Road and Wagstaff Lane, set on a traffic island bordered by a modern, low-set iron bar fence (excluded from this listing). It stands at a height of approximately 4.4 metres and is square in plan with a Stancliffe stone plinth featuring corner pilasters, a dentilled capstone and a carved relief of a memorial wreath in the upper portion of the frontal (north-west) elevation. On top of the plinth, a shallow, stepped platform is surmounted by a sculpted figure of a First World War British soldier, looking ahead and supporting a rifle which rests on the ground. This sculpture, which was added in 2009 (along with the upper step of the platform on the top of the plinth), is a close replica of the original 1921 sculpture. The replacement sculpture was the work of Centreline stonemasons and was carved from Portland stone, this in contrast to the Carrara marble original.

The four elevations of the plinth (north-west, north-east, south-west and south-east) bear slate panels which were fixed to the memorial after 1945 when the names of the fallen from the Second World War were added. The frontal (north-west) panel is inscribed with the dates of the First World War (1914-18), an epitaph “BY THEIR SACRIFICE WE LIVE”, and the names of 48 men from Pye Hill, Jacksdale and Westwood who fell in the conflict. Beneath this inscription are the dates of the Second World War (1939-45), and the names of 20 of the fallen with the epitaph “WE WILL REMEMBER THEM”. The other three sides of the plinth are also mounted with slate panels, each of these list the names of those who served in the First World War, numbering 255 in all, and headed “SERVED, 1914 – 1918.” These slate panels replaced earlier Carrara marble versions which adorned the memorial when erected in 1921 (these having matched the material of the original soldier monument). The inscriptions on the replacement panels are the same as those on the original panels (barring the Second World War inscriptions), from the evidence of a report in the Eastwood & Kimberley Advertiser in July 1921.

Pursuant to s.1 (5A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act, 1990, the paved area surrounding the memorial and the modern, iron-bar fence are not of special architectural or historic interest.

Sources

Websites
War Memorials Register, accessed 21 September 2015 from http://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/26889
War Memorials Online, accessed 21 September 2015 from https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/node/133853
Jacksdale & Westwood Community and Heritage website, accessed 21 September 2015 from http://www.jacksdale.org.uk/war-memorial/the-monument

End of official list entry

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