Wiveliscombe Memorial Recreation Park Obelisk and Drinking Fountain
The Memorial Recreation Ground, West Road, Wiveliscombe, Somerset, TA4 2TA
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1432735
- Date first listed:
- 15-Feb-2016
- List Entry Name:
- Wiveliscombe Memorial Recreation Park Obelisk and Drinking Fountain
- Statutory Address:
- The Memorial Recreation Ground, West Road, Wiveliscombe, Somerset, TA4 2TA
Location
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1432735
- Date first listed:
- 15-Feb-2016
- List Entry Name:
- Wiveliscombe Memorial Recreation Park Obelisk and Drinking Fountain
- Statutory Address 1:
- The Memorial Recreation Ground, West Road, Wiveliscombe, Somerset, TA4 2TA
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
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.
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
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.
Location
- Statutory Address:
- The Memorial Recreation Ground, West Road, Wiveliscombe, Somerset, TA4 2TA
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- District:
- Somerset (Unitary Authority)
- Parish:
- Wiveliscombe
- National Grid Reference:
- ST0778327769
Summary
War memorial obelisk (1920), and drinking fountain (1921).
Reasons for Designation
Wiveliscombe Memorial Recreation Park Obelisk and Drinking Fountain, situated on the north side of the Memorial Recreation Park, are 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 First World War;
* Architectural interest: an imposing obelisk in a local stone;
* Historical association: the obelisk and fountain form a commemorative group, marking the establishment of the Memorial Recreation Park.
History
Wiveliscombe has two principal First World War memorials. One is a stone cross in the churchyard, the other its recreation ground. A war memorial public subscription raised £1,500 which funded the purchase of Broad Meadow on the west side of the town from John Tidboald, and the construction thereon of the recreation ground and a memorial obelisk, built by William White, set on the roadside edge of the field. These were formally opened on 3 June 1920, a week before the dedication of the war memorial cross in the churchyard. A drinking fountain was installed alongside the obelisk in 1921. Further facilities were added later notably, in 1935, a covered stand on the south side of the field (not included in this listing).
Details
The commemorative obelisk, square sectioned and tapering, is c3m high, of coursed, rusticated, Old Red Sandstone quarried in Ford, a mile NE of Wiveliscombe. It stands on a two-stage stepped base. A tin containing contemporary objects is buried under the memorial. Inset are stone tablets inscribed (first panel) THIS/ WAR MEMORIAL/ RECREATION GROUND/ OPENED ON 3RD JUNE 1920/ WAS PROVIDED BY/ PUBLIC SUBSCRIPTION/ OF THE INHABITANTS OF/ WIVELISCOMBE (second panel) TO/ THE GLORIOUS/ MEMORY OF THE/ MEN OF/ WIVELISCOMBE/ WHO FELL IN/ THE GREAT WAR/ 1914 – 1918.
The drinking fountain, an octagonal font-like structure of the same stone, stands c20m to the east.
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, 25 July 2017.
Sources
Books and journals
Farrington, SM, Wiveliscombe: A History, (2005), 102, 253-4
Websites
BBC Domesday Reloaded, Wiveliscombe Recreation Ground, accessed 13 January 2016 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/domesday/dblock/GB-304000-126000/page/19
Wiveliscombe Area Website, Wiveliscombe War Memorial Recreation Ground, accessed 13 January 2016 from https://www.wiveliscombe.com/wwmrg
War Memorials Online, accessed 15 December 2016 from https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/198136
War Memorials Register, accessed 25 July 2017 from http://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/72669
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 25-Jun-2026 at 14:42:45.
Download a full scale map (PDF)End of official list entry
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