Aylestone War Memorial

Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places

Overview

War memorial by Joseph Herbert Morcom, unveiled and dedicated 23rd April 1921 with additions following the Second World War. Read the official list entry to find out more.

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1433210
Date first listed:: 05-Apr-2016
List Entry Name:: Aylestone War Memorial

User submitted image — Uploaded by War Memorials Online This photo may not represent the current condition of the site
View all

Location

Location of this list entry and nearby places that are also listed. Use our map search to find more listed places.

There is a problem

Use of this mapping is subject to terms and conditions.

This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale.

What is the National Heritage List for England?

The National Heritage List for England is a unique register of our country's most significant historic buildings and sites. The places on the list are protected by law and most are not open to the public.

The list includes:

🏠 Buildings
🏰 Scheduled monuments
🌳 Parks and gardens
⚔️ Battlefields
⚓ Shipwrecks

Find out more about listing

Historic England Archive

Search over 1 million photographs and drawings from the 1850s to the present day using our images archive.

Find Photos

Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1433210
Date first listed:: 05-Apr-2016
List Entry Name:: Aylestone War Memorial
Location Description:: Churchyard of the Church of St Andrew, Old Church Street, Aylestone, Leicester, LE2 8NH

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:: City of Leicester (Unitary Authority)
Parish:: Non Civil Parish
National Grid Reference:: SK5716100993

Summary

War memorial by Joseph Herbert Morcom, unveiled and dedicated 23rd April 1921 with additions following the Second World War.

Reasons for Designation

Aylestone War Memorial unveiled and dedicated 1921, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

* Historic interest: it is a poignant reminder of the impact of tragic world events upon an individual community and, thus, has strong cultural and historical significance within both a local and national context;

* Architectural interest: as an elegant, accomplished and well-executed memorial by the notable designer J H Morcom;

* Group value: with the Grade II* listed Church of St Andrew (NHLE 1074054).

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.

Aylestone War Memorial Cross was designed by Joseph Herbert Morcom and unveiled on 23rd April 1921 at a ceremony led by Sir Geoffrey Palmer. Canon Sturdee conducted the service and Canon Gedge, who retired as Rector in 1913, dedicated the memorial. The memorial commemorates 46 local men who died during the First World War and a further 32 who died during the Second World War.

Joseph Herbert Morcom ARCA (1871-1942) worked first for a local firm of stonemasons in Wales, later securing a position with Norbury, Paterson & Co of Liverpool. In the early 1890s he enrolled at Liverpool School of Architecture and Applied Art. By 1904 he was Assistant Modelling Master at the School and in 1910 was appointed Modelling Master at Leicester School of Art. Four years later he bought Pearson and Shipley, a firm of stonemasons and monumental sculptors, which he renamed The Plasmatic Company. Thereafter he continued to work for the company as well as sculpting independently and teaching at the Leicester School of Art. He was responsible for a number of other war memorials, including those at Quorn, St Augustine’s Church, Edgbaston, and for Cortonwood Colliery.

Details

War Memorial in the churchyard of St Andrew's, unveiled in 1921, and designed by Joseph Herbert Morcom in Ancaster limestone.

It stands on a circular paved area with a moulded-curb, overlooking the junction between Old Church Street and Middleton Street. Its elevated position is approached by a series of three steps.

The tall memorial cross comprises a three-stepped octagonal base surmounted by a chamfered pedestal, a chamfered square shaft and a crowned wheel-cross. Immediately beneath the head of the cross carved swords embellish each of the shaft’s chamfers and bronze wreaths on each side embellish the foot of the shaft. The inscriptions are carved in relief on slate tablets on each side of the pedestal.

The principal dedicatory inscription in slate on the front face of the plinth reads IN HONOUR OF/ THE MEN OF/ AYLESTONE/ WHO DIED IN THE/ WAR/ 1914 - 1919/ 1939 - 1945/ "RESOLVE THAT THESE DEAD/ SHALL NOT HAVE DIED IN VAIN". The names of the 46 who lost their lives during World War I are inscribed in slate tablets around the other three sides of the plinth.

The names of the 32 men who lost their lives during World War II are inscribed on a slate panel let into the second step.

Sources

Websites
War Memorials Online, accessed 2 February 2016 from https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/node/179366
War Memorials Register, accessed 2 February 2016 from http://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/37778

Legal

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

The listed building(s) is/are shown coloured blue on the attached map. Pursuant to s.1 (5A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 (‘the Act’), structures attached to or within the curtilage of the listed building (save those coloured blue on the map: a raised circular paved area with a moulded curb, accessed via three steps, and a three-stepped octagonal base) are not to be treated as part of the listed building for the purposes of the Act.