Summary
War memorial, erected 1921; stone shaft surmounted by a crucifix, set on a square pedestal.
Reasons for Designation
Wold Newton War Memorial, erected 1921, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Historic interest: as an eloquent witness to the tragic impacts of world events on this rural community, and the sacrifices it made in the conflicts of the late C19 and early C20;
* Design interest: it is a dignified monument executed in good quality materials, which provides an elegant and fitting tribute to the Fallen from both the Boer War and the First World War.
History
The Wold Newton war memorial stands at the centre of Wold Newton village opposite the gateway to the Manor. It was raised by the then village squire William Maurice Wright as a memorial to a number of local men who are believed to have worked in the area and who had been killed in the First World War; particularly a childhood friend Lt Colonel Cyril Compton Jackson of the Mahratta Light Infantry, whose father had been the rector of the parish between 1875 and 1895. Remarkably only one of the five men who are commemorated on the memorial, Charles Smith who died in the Boer War, was a resident of the village.
William Wright persuaded a number of individuals to subscribe towards the costs of the memorial, which was carved by the well-known monumental masons John Thompson and Sons of Peterborough. The cement block foundation was laid on 14 January and a chalk base was raised around it, material having been barrowed and tamped by William Wright and others, and covered with soil. Once the memorial was installed, a beech hedge was planted to the rear. Upon completion, the memorial was unveiled at a service held on Saturday 5 February 1921, by Admiral Allington JP of Swinhope Hall; the dedication prayer was given by Reverend Edward Rivaz Fagan, vicar of the Church of St. Luke Grimsby, the Last Post was sounded by Parsons Wright and F W Hall, and afterwards twenty people gathered for tea in the dining room of the Manor. Following the death of William Wright in 1956 the memorial and the land upon which it stands was bequeathed in his will to the village.
Details
War memorial, erected 1921, carved by John Thompson and Sons of Peterborough.
MATERIALS: Clipsham limestone.
The Wold Newton War Memorial is situated opposite the gateway to The Manor. The memorial stands 8ft 6in tall, raised on an elliptical-plan tamped chalk chippings base covered with soil and fronted by a low curved concrete block wall, with cast-iron cruciform railings. It comprises a square pedestal with carved upper corners, the upper surface of which has chamfered edges and forms an octagonal plinth. A tapered shaft with a square base rises from the plinth; the edges of the shaft have been chamfered and stopped to form eight facets, with a shaft ring and a faceted cushion capitol surmounted by a Latin cross. The cross has a shield inscribed with the Christian monogram HIS at the intersection; the edges have hollow chamfers, with four Tudor florets draped into the chamfers.
The names of the Fallen are inscribed and filled with fine lead lettering on the NW face of the pedestal. The inscription reads:
PRO DEO / PRO PATRIA / 1914 – 1918 / GEORGE COCKRILL / ARTHUR DIXON / CYRIL COMPTON JACKSON / HAROLD KING / 1900 / CHARLES SMITH SOUTH AFRICA.
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, 23 January 2017.
