Summary
First World War Memorial of red sandstone, with a disused drinking fountain.
Reasons for Designation
Minshull Vernon cum Leighton War Memorial, a First World War Memorial of red sandstone, with a disused drinking fountain, 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;
* Design interest: as a relatively unusual memorial incorporating a drinking fountain.
History
Parish records indicate that discussion regarding a memorial to local men killed in action began in 1917, but initial ideas included adding an inscription to the Victoria Jubilee Cross, and from 1920 a memorial plaque in the parish church. It is reported that in the 1920s a Mrs Sellars gave the land to enable construction of the memorial. War memorial accounts were presented in 1922, amounting to £78 3s 0d (roughly £3,100 in 2016), which suggests that these included the cost of erection of the monument being assessed, and that it stood by this date. The first map of the site after this date is the 1:2,500 OS map of 1962, which shows the memorial. Over the last 20 years the original plaques have been replaced twice and the original sandstone bollards have been replaced in concrete. On the 4 June 2016 additional plaques were installed on the N and S faces, dedicated to the memory of airmen who died in training crashes in the parish during the Second World War.
Details
First World War memorial of the 1920s, designer unknown.
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