Byker War Memorial
Brian Roycroft Court, St Silas Church, Byker, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 1PT
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1434062
- Date first listed:
- 15-Apr-2016
- List Entry Name:
- Byker War Memorial
- Statutory Address:
- Brian Roycroft Court, St Silas Church, Byker, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 1PT
Location
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1434062
- Date first listed:
- 15-Apr-2016
- List Entry Name:
- Byker War Memorial
- Statutory Address 1:
- Brian Roycroft Court, St Silas Church, Byker, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 1PT
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:
- Brian Roycroft Court, St Silas Church, Byker, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 1PT
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- District:
- Newcastle upon Tyne (Metropolitan Authority)
- Parish:
- Non Civil Parish
- National Grid Reference:
- NZ2662264641
Summary
First World War memorial, 1922, re-dedicated at this location in 2005.
Reasons for Designation
Byker War Memorial, which stands between the Church of St Silas and Brian Roycroft Court, 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 local community, and the sacrifice it has made in the First World War;
* Architectural interest: a tall and well-carved Calvary cross;
* Group value: with the Church of St Silas (Grade II).
History
The memorial, costing £369 9s 11d raised by public subscription, was erected in the grounds of St Lawrence’s Church, Walker Road, Byker, and unveiled on 23 July 1922. It commemorated 230 servicemen from the district who died during the First World War. The church and church hall were later demolished and the war memorial, at first destined for the churchyard of St Michael’s Church in Byker Village, was moved to St Silas’s Church, Clifford Street in 1995. These surroundings have also been re-developed and the memorial now stands in front of Brian Roycroft Court, accommodated in a small landscaped garden and facing the south wall of the Grade II-listed Church of St Silas.
The name of Private Peter Giles, Northumberland Fusiliers, who was shot for desertion in 1916, was added to the memorial in 1999. A further name was added in 2000. The memorial was re-dedicated by Reverend Sue Falconer, supported by the Royal British Legion, on 4 May 2005 when Brian Roycroft Court was opened.
Details
The memorial stands in a small garden between Brian Roycroft Court and the Church of St Silas (Grade II-listed). It comprises a c 5m tall hooded Calvary cross in sandstone. The cross shaft rises from an octagonal plinth with a shallow cornice and moulded foot. The plinth stands on a two stepped base. What was the third, lowest, step of the base is now let into the garden paving.
The principal dedicatory inscription on the front face of the plinth reads IN MEMORY OF/ THOSE WHO/ BROUGHT HONOUR/ TO THIS DISTRICT/ BY GIVING THEIR/ LIVES IN THE/ GREAT WAR/ 1914 – 1919. The commemorated names are listed on the other faces and on the moulded foot 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, 8 February 2017.
Sources
Websites
North East War Memorials Project - Byker, accessed 02/03/2016 from http://www.newmp.org.uk/detail.php?contentId=6680
Byker Bridge Housing Association, accessed 02/03/2016 from http://home2.btconnect.com/bykerbridge/events%20develop/silas%20church.html
War Memorials Register, accessed 8 February 2017 from http://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/34340
War Memorials Online, accessed 8 February 2017 from https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/231025
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 26-Jun-2026 at 13:29:20.
Download a full scale map (PDF)End of official list entry
All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.