Bluntisham and Earith War Memorial

Village Green, Junction of Holliday's Road and Rectory Road, Bluntisham, Cambs, PE28 3LN

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Overview

First World War memorial, 1921, with further names added after the Second World War. Read the official list entry to find out more.

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1439179
Date first listed:: 01-Nov-2016
List Entry Name:: Bluntisham and Earith War Memorial
Statutory Address:: Village Green, Junction of Holliday's Road and Rectory Road, Bluntisham, Cambs, PE28 3LN

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1439179
Date first listed:: 01-Nov-2016
List Entry Name:: Bluntisham and Earith War Memorial
Statutory Address 1:: Village Green, Junction of Holliday's Road and Rectory Road, Bluntisham, Cambs, PE28 3LN

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:: Village Green, Junction of Holliday's Road and Rectory Road, Bluntisham, Cambs, PE28 3LN

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

County:: Cambridgeshire
District:: Huntingdonshire (District Authority)
Parish:: Bluntisham
National Grid Reference:: TL3715674507

Summary

First World War memorial, 1921, with further names added after the Second World War.

Reasons for Designation

Bluntisham and Earith War Memorial 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 and striking wheel-head cross in Cornish granite; * Group value: with the Church of St Mary opposite (Grade I).

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 Bluntisham as a permanent testament to the sacrifice made by the members of the local community who lost their lives in the First World War. It commemorates 34 local servicemen who fell during the First World War.

Following the Second World War, a dedication was added to commemorate the eight fallen of that conflict.

The memorial was created in 1921 in the centre of a traffic island at the junction of Holliday's Road and Rectory Road. It was moved to its present location in the late 1980s after being hit by vehicles.

In 2007 the memorial was conserved with the help of grant aid.

Details

MATERIALS: rough-hewn Cornish granite.

DESCRIPTION: Bluntisham and Earith memorial consists of a wheel-head cross with a carved central boss on a tapered shaft and square tapered plinth, which is set upon a rough-hewn three-stepped base.

The faces of the plinth are polished and the front face is inscribed with a dedication which reads THIS CROSS WAS ERECTED/ BY PUBLIC SUBSCRIPTION/ IN GRATEFUL MEMORY OF/ THE MEN BELONGING TO/ BLUNTISHAM AND EARITH/ WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES/ IN THE GREAT WAR/ 1914 - 1918. The other three sides of the plinth are inscribed with the names of the fallen of the First World War.

Further commemorative text at the base of the shaft reads 1939 - 1945/ (NAMES).

Sources

Websites
War Memorials Online, accessed 21 July 2016 from www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/node/135416
War Memorials Register, accessed 21 July 2016 from www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/162
War Memorials Trust, accessed 21 July 2016 from www.warmemorials.org/search-grants/?gID=546

Legal

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