Exning War Memorial

Cotton End Road, Exning, Suffolk, CB8 7NN

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

Overview

First World War memorial, unveiled 5 June 1921, with later additions for the Second World War. Read the official list entry to find out more.

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1438026
Date first listed:: 06-Oct-2016
List Entry Name:: Exning War Memorial
Statutory Address:: Cotton End Road, Exning, Suffolk, CB8 7NN

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.

There is a problem

Use of this mapping is subject to terms and conditions.

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

Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1438026
Date first listed:: 06-Oct-2016
List Entry Name:: Exning War Memorial
Statutory Address 1:: Cotton End Road, Exning, Suffolk, CB8 7NN

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:: Cotton End Road, Exning, Suffolk, CB8 7NN

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

County:: Suffolk
District:: West Suffolk (District Authority)
Parish:: Exning
National Grid Reference:: TL6212465813

Summary

First World War memorial, unveiled 5 June 1921, with later additions for the Second World War.

Reasons for Designation

Exning War Memorial, unveiled 5 June 1921, 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 granite Latin cross with carved decorative details; * Group value: with the White Horse Public House (Grade II).

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.

One such memorial was raised at Exning as a permanent testament to the sacrifice made by the members of the local community who lost their lives in the First World War.

On 30 November 1920 Exning War Memorial Committee accepted a design for the memorial submitted by W J Nutty of Cheveley at a cost of £624 12s 6d. The memorial was unveiled on 5 June 1921 in front of over 5,000 people by Lt-Colonel W E Guinness with the dedication led by Canon W T Farmiloe of Bury St Edmunds Diocese. The war memorial commemorates 80 local servicemen who lost their lives in the First World War.

Following the Second World War, 25 names of those who lost their lives in that conflict were added on a stone book at the base of the memorial.

The memorial was relocated c 10m to the north in 1998 away from a road junction.

Details

MATERIALS: Cornish granite.

DESCRIPTION: Exning War Memorial consists of a Latin cross with encircling carved detailing. On the face is a smaller cross carved in relief with the inscription 1914 – 1918 in lead lettering.

The cross surmounts a hexagonal tapering shaft with a collar at its top and moulded base. The base of the shaft on three sides carries a carved detail in relief.

The shaft rises from a square plinth with each face bearing indented panels which carry the inscriptions, formed in lead lettering. The front face reads OUR/ GLORIOUS/ DEAD. The other three faces carry the list of the names of the fallen from the First World War.

The plinth is set upon on a three-stepped base with the top step inscribed with 1914 – 1918 & 1939 – 1945. In front of this is a stone book which is inscribed 1939 – 1945/ (NAMES).

The memorial is enclosed by a low granite kerb and posts with a chain link fence.

Sources

Websites
War Memorials Online, accessed 21 July 2016 from www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/node/118154
War Memorials Register, accessed 21 July 2016 from www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/4542
War Memorials Trust, accessed 21 July 2016 from www.warmemorials.org/search-grants/?gID=328
Other
'Exning's Tribute to her Dead', Bury Free Press, 11 June 1921

Legal

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