Loose War Memorial

Churchyard of All Saints' Church, Church Street, Loose, Kent, ME15 0BT

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

Overview

First World War memorial, 1922, with later additions. Read the official list entry to find out more.

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1436297
Date first listed:: 13-Jul-2016
List Entry Name:: Loose War Memorial
Statutory Address:: Churchyard of All Saints' Church, Church Street, Loose, Kent, ME15 0BT

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.

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

Also of interest

Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1436297
Date first listed:: 13-Jul-2016
List Entry Name:: Loose War Memorial
Statutory Address 1:: Churchyard of All Saints' Church, Church Street, Loose, Kent, ME15 0BT

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

Statutory Address:: Churchyard of All Saints' Church, Church Street, Loose, Kent, ME15 0BT

The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

County:: Kent
District:: Maidstone (District Authority)
Parish:: Loose
National Grid Reference:: TQ7576852012

Summary

First World War memorial, 1922, with later additions.

Reasons for Designation

Loose War Memorial, unveiled in 1922, 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; * Architectural interest: an elegant Latin stone cross, based on Sir Reginald Blomfield's 'Cross of Sacrifice' design for the Imperial (now Commonwealth) War Graves Commission.

History

Loose War Memorial was unveiled in July 1922, by Private Harold Harris who had served in Flanders with the East Kent Regiment and had suffered the loss of his sight during the First World War. The memorial was designed by A W Smith FRIBA and erected by H Cole of Broughton Monchelsea.

It commemorates the 41 local servicemen who fell in the First World War. Following the Second World War a further 24 names of the fallen from that conflict were added. In 2011, an additional tablet with four names was added to the memorial, with the help of funding from War Memorials Trust.

Details

First World War memorial, 1922, with later additions.

MATERIALS: Portland stone cross, bronze sword and Aberdeen granite plaques.

DESCRIPTION: Loose War Memorial stands within the extension of All Saints’ Churchyard on Church Street. It consists of a Portland stone Latin cross with a reversed bronze sword on its face, which is based on Sir Reginald Blomfield’s ‘Cross of Sacrifice’ for the Imperial (now Commonwealth) War Graves Commission. The cross rises from a square pedestal which stands on a two stepped hexagonal Portland stone base.

The square pedestal carries four Aberdeen granite panels, one on each face. These are inscribed with the names of the fallen and the principal dedication which reads TO THE/ GLORY OF GOD/ AND/ IN GRATEFUL MEMORY/ OF THE/ MEN OF LOOSE/ WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES FOR THEIR COUNTRY IN/ THE GREAT WAR/ 1914 – 1918. At the top of each frame for the plaques is a cross within a circle carved in relief.

The Second World War names are inscribed on two plaques angled across the steps of the memorial and are preceded by the dates 1939 – 1945.

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, 30 November 2016.

Sources

Websites
War Memorials Online, accessed 30/11/2016 from www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/135916
War Memorials Register, accessed 30/11/2016 from www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/1150
War Memorials Trust, Grants Showcase - entry for Loose War Memorial, accessed 25 May 2016 from www.warmemorials.org/search-grants/?gID=957

Legal

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