Summary
First World War memorial, completed in 1921 to the designs of F J Lindley, with later inscriptions added to commemorate the fallen from the Second World War.
Reasons for Designation
Clare War Memorial, which stands on Market Hill in the centre of Clare, was unveiled in October 1921, and is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
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.
Clare war memorial was erected in memory of the 32 local men who fell during the First World War (1914-18). It was built to the designs of the Suffolk stonemason F J Lindley, who later worked under the name F. J. Lindley & Company, Monumental Masons (from 1931 to 1951) in Sudbury, Suffolk. The memorial was dedicated by Canon W T Farmiloe on 23 October 1921 at an unveiling ceremony attended by the Liberal politician Col Sir T Coutenay Warner (who held the title Lord Lieutenant of Suffolk and Baronet of Brettenham Park, Suffolk). Following the Second World War the names of the five of the fallen from the conflict were added to the monument and, in February 1948, a ceremony was held to rededicate the memorial. In 2011, following a successful funding application to the Grants for War Memorials Scheme, repair and conservation work was undertaken.
Details
Clare war memorial, completed in 1921 to the designs of F J Lindley.
Sources
Websites https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/117587 http://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/5112 http://www.warmemorials.org/search-grants/?gID=862
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 is 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 cross memorial and plinth set on an octagonal stone base) are not to be treated as part of the listed building for the purposes of the Act.
End of official list entry
