Atherstone War Memorial
Atherstone Cemetery, Sheepy Road, Atherstone, Warwickshire, CV9 3AA
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1436544
- Date first listed:
- 20-Jul-2016
- List Entry Name:
- Atherstone War Memorial
- Statutory Address:
- Atherstone Cemetery, Sheepy Road, Atherstone, Warwickshire, CV9 3AA
Location
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1436544
- Date first listed:
- 20-Jul-2016
- List Entry Name:
- Atherstone War Memorial
- Statutory Address 1:
- Atherstone Cemetery, Sheepy Road, Atherstone, Warwickshire, CV9 3AA
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:
- Atherstone Cemetery, Sheepy Road, Atherstone, Warwickshire, CV9 3AA
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- County:
- Warwickshire
- District:
- North Warwickshire (District Authority)
- Parish:
- Atherstone
- National Grid Reference:
- SP3077598330
Summary
First World War memorial, designed by H C Mitchell, unveiled on 30 September 1923, with further names added after the Second World War.
Reasons for Designation
Atherstone War Memorial, unveiled on 30 September 1923, 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 community, and the sacrifices it has made in the conflicts of the C20;
* Architectural interest: an elegant granite wheel-head cross with carved decorative details;
* Designer: designed by Henry Charles Mitchell who is responsible for several war memorials.
History
The aftermath of the First World War saw the biggest single wave of public commemoration ever with tens of thousands of memorials erected across England, 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.
A public meeting was called on 28 February 1919 to discuss the provision of a war memorial in Atherstone. The original intention appears to have been to provide a memorial hospital and cross. However, funds raised through subscription were insufficient and as such only the memorial cross was subsequently built.
The memorial was designed and built by Henry Charles Mitchell at a cost of £665. Mitchell was a monumental mason based in Tamworth who also exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1931 as a landscape painter. He designed several war memorials in Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Staffordshire and Warwickshire.
The memorial was unveiled on 30 September 1923 by Major The Hon. George Peel, grandson of former Prime Minister Robert Peel. The local paper, the Tamworth Herald, reported that 5,000 people attended the ceremony. The names of the fallen from the Second World War were subsequently added in 1947.
In 2012 the memorial was conserved with the help of grant aid from War Memorials Trust.
Details
MATERIALS: Cornish granite.
DESCRIPTION: Atherstone War Memorial consists of a wheel-head cross constructed of silver-grey Cornish granite set on a tapered column. A Sword of Sacrifice is carved in low relief onto the front face of the cross. The column stands on a plinth on a six-stepped base, with each step representing a year from 1914 to 1919.
The plinth carries the inscription and names in lead lettering for the 158 men who lost their lives in the First World War. The inscription reads: IN/ GRATEFUL MEMORY/ OF THE/ MEN OF ATHERSTONE/ WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES/ IN THE WARS/ 1914 – 1919/ LET US LIVE TO KEEP/ WHAT THEY DIED TO SAVE.
Below this on the steps are three stone panels which carry the names of the 46 who fell in the Second World War. It is inscribed: 1939 – 1945/ (NAMES).
Sources
Websites
War Memorials Trust, accessed 6 June 2016 from www.warmemorials.org/search-grants/?gID=965
War Memorials Online, accessed 6 June 2016 from www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/node/124543
War Memorials Register, accessed 6 June 2016 from www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/19045
Other
Atherstone War Memorial, Tamworth Herald, 6 Oct 1923
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 18-Jul-2026 at 19:56:45.
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.