Haswell War Memorial

Summary

First World War memorial, 1920.

Reasons for Designation

Haswell War Memorial, which stands in the churchyard of St Paul’s Church, 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 First World War;
* Degree of survival: unusually, the memorial has not been adapted for Second World War commemoration and thus retains its original design intent.

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. This was the result of both the huge impact on communities of the loss of three quarters of a million British lives, and also 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. One such memorial was raised at Haswell as a permanent testament to the sacrifice made by the members of the local community who lost their lives in the First World War.

The war memorial was unveiled on 18 July 1920 by Captain EH Veitch and dedicated by the Vicar, Reverend GS Skene. The memorial cost £220, raised by public subscription. It commemorates 83 local servicemen who died, of whom 66 were killed during the First World War and 17 died later at home or in hospital.

Details

The tall, polished grey granite memorial stands in the churchyard of St Paul’s Church (unlisted). It takes the form of a small Latin cross standing on the corniced top of a large, tapering pedestal. The pedestal stands on a two-stepped base (a granite upper step, whilst the lower is concrete). The plain entablature below the cornice is decorated with lightly incised patterns which are repeated below, above the inscriptions.

The principal dedicatory inscription on the front face of the pedestal reads "GREATER LOVE HATH NO/ MAN THAN THIS, THAT/ A MAN LAY DOWN HIS LIFE/ FOR HIS FRIENDS." / ROLL OF HONOUR/ NAMES OF THE MEN/ FROM THE PARISH OF HASWELL/ WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES/ FOR THEIR KING & COUNTRY/ IN THE GREAT WAR/ 1914 – 1919/ “THEIR BRIGHT SPIRITS STILL/ TENANT THE HEARTS OF THOSE/ WHO LOVED THEM. THEY LIE/ IMPERISHABLY FAIR, CROWNED/ WITH THE GARLANDS OF/ IMMORTAL YOUTH. The commemorated names are listed on the remaining three sides of the pedestal.

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, 7 February 2017.

Sources

Websites
North East War Memorials Project, accessed 20/07/2016 from http://www.newmp.org.uk/detail.php?contentId=9459
War Memorials Register, accessed 7 February 2017 from http://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/71118
War Memorials Online, accessed 7 February 2017 from https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/179438

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