Ludworth War Memorial

Summary

First World War memorial, 1927, with later additions for the Second World War.

Reasons for Designation

Ludworth War Memorial, which stands beside the junction of Margaret Street and East View, 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: a simple yet dignified memorial cross.

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 Ludworth as a permanent testament to the sacrifice made by 20 members of the local community who lost their lives in the First World War.

Ludworth was the pit village for a colliery that had been opened in 1837. The memorial was built on land given by the Weardale Coal Company. It was unveiled on 26 February 1927 by Colonel JR Ritson. The service was conducted by Reverend AC Hague. Following the Second World War the names of five men who died in that conflict were added. These were unveiled on 30 September 1949 by Major General CF Loewens and dedicated by Canon RH Tillard. The memorial was refurbished in 2005.

Details

The memorial stands in an enclosure to the SW of the junction of Margaret Street and East View. In granite, it takes the form of a Latin cross with a moulded foot that rises from a pedestal, square on plan. The pedestal stands on a two-stepped base.

The principal dedicatory inscription on the front face of the pedestal reads TO THE GLORY OF GOD/ AND IN HONOUR OF THE BRAVE MEN/ WHO FELL IN THE GREAT WAR/ 1914 – 1918./ (20 NAMES). Below, on the riser of the top step, the later dedication reads 1939 – 1935/ (5 NAMES).

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 15/08/2016 from http://www.newmp.org.uk/detail.php?contentId=7900
Durham Mining Museum, accessed 15/08/2016 from http://www.dmm.org.uk/colliery/l001.htm
War Memorials Register, accessed 7 February 2017 from http://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/10280
War Memorials Online, accessed 7 February 2017 from https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/144457

Other
“A Village Memorial”, Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer, 28 February 1927, p12

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.

Print the official list entry