Drayton St Leonard War Memorial
High Street, Drayton St Leonard, Oxfordshire, OX10 7BG
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1439360
- Date first listed:
- 07-Nov-2016
- List Entry Name:
- Drayton St Leonard War Memorial
- Statutory Address:
- High Street, Drayton St Leonard, Oxfordshire, OX10 7BG
Location
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1439360
- Date first listed:
- 07-Nov-2016
- List Entry Name:
- Drayton St Leonard War Memorial
- Statutory Address 1:
- High Street, Drayton St Leonard, Oxfordshire, OX10 7BG
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
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.
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
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.
Location
- Statutory Address:
- High Street, Drayton St Leonard, Oxfordshire, OX10 7BG
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- County:
- Oxfordshire
- District:
- South Oxfordshire (District Authority)
- Parish:
- Drayton St. Leonard
- National Grid Reference:
- SU5968696266
Summary
First World War memorial, designed by Sir Aston Webb and unveiled on 17 October 1923, with a further name added after the Second World War.
Reasons for Designation
Drayton St Leonard 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 this community, and the sacrifices it has made in the conflicts of the C20;
* Architectural interest: a simple but striking memorial cross;
* Designer: by Sir Aston Webb, architect of the Victoria and Albert Museum and well-known for his high quality war memorials.
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 Drayton St Leonard 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 memorial was designed by Sir Aston Webb (1849-1930) President of RIBA 1902-4 and of the Royal Academy 1919-24. His best known works are the Victoria and Albert Museum and the present form of The Mall, including the re-fronting of Buckingham Palace, the setting of the Victoria Memorial and Admiralty Arch. He was responsible for a number of war memorials, including the Dover Patrol Monument (Grade II*) and those at Ditton, Hertford (in collaboration with Alfred Drury), Malvern and Wigan, which are Grade II-listed.
Drayton St Leonard War Memorial was unveiled on 17 October 1923 by Major General Sir Robert Fanshawe and dedicated by the Rector Watkin Wynn Williams to the five local servicemen who fell during the First World War. It may have been the Rector who was instrumental in gaining the services of Aston Webb probably through the British Legion.
The name of one individual was added following the Second World War.
In 2015 the memorial was conserved with the help of grant aid from War Memorials Trust.
Details
MATERIALS: Clipsham limestone.
DESCRIPTION: the memorial is located on the High Street in Drayton St Leonard and it comprises a Latin cross on an octagonal tapering shaft on a three-stepped octagonal base.
The base carries the inscriptions in inscribed lettering painted black. The dedication reads: IN MEMORY OF/ THOSE/ WHO GAVE/ THEIR LIVES FOR US/ IN THE GREAT WAR. A second side is inscribed 1914 – 1918/ R.I.P. Five sides are each inscribed with the name of one individual who fell in the First World War.
The inscription 1939 – 1945/ (NAME) was added at a later date on another side.
Sources
Websites
War Memorials Trust, accessed 21 August 2016 from www.warmemorials.org/search-grants/?gID=1306
War Memorials Online, accessed 21 August 2016 from www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/node/198152
War Memorials Register, accessed 21 August 2016 from www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/31423
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 14-Jun-2026 at 18:48:25.
Download a full scale map (PDF)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.