Summary
War memorial cross, c1920, by Farmer and Brindley.
Reasons for Designation
The Hinton War Memorial, c1920, 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 typical form for a memorial but richly embellished with highly detailed, intricate relief mouldings.
History
In the years following the First World War a great wave of memorial building honoured the many thousands of troops lost, marking the great impact of the international conflict at a local level. Memorials provided a focal point for grieving communities, whose dead were often not repatriated.
The memorial at Hinton is one such example, erected on a crossing in the dispersed settlement and paid for by public subscription, commemorating the 15 local men who died in the conflict. The memorial was erected by Farmer and Brindley, a prominent firm of architectural masons and carvers whose work features on a number of notable buildings, including the Natural History Museum. They supplied a number of First World War memorials, including that at nearby Burley.
The memorial was added to following the Second World War, commemorating the two fallen soldiers.
Details
War memorial cross, c1920, by Farmer and Brindley.
MATERIALS: the memorial is constructed from Portland stone.
DESCRIPTION: a Celtic wheel cross with a tapering square shaft, standing upon a plinth with two steps. The front of the cross faces north-east, and the head and neck have intricate relief mouldings of Celtic knots and flower heads. The plinth has an incised inscription: ‘THIS CROSS IS ERECTED BY THE INHABITANTS / OF HINTON IN GRATEFUL MEMORY OF THOSE / CONNECTED WITH THIS VILLAGE WHO SACRIFICED / THEIR LIVES IN DEFENCE OF THEIR KING AND / COUNTRY IN THE GREAT WAR OF 1914-1919 / THEY SHALL NOT GROW OLD AS WE THAT ARE LEFT GROW OLD / AGE SHALL NOT WEARY THEM NOR THE YEARS CONDEMN / AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN AND IN THE MORNING / WE WILL REMEMBER THEM’. Above, on the shaft, are the names of the 15 men who dies in the conflict, and beneath, the inscription ‘1939-1945’ and the names of the two men who died in the Second World War.
The cross stands on a paved square base and is enclosed by a chain fence with four tapering square posts on each side.
