Unsworth War Memorial
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1440257
- Date first listed:
- 12-Jul-2017
- List Entry Name:
- Unsworth War Memorial
Location
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1440257
- Date first listed:
- 12-Jul-2017
- List Entry Name:
- Unsworth War Memorial
- Location Description:
- Land at the junction of Pole Lane and Sunnybank Road, Unsworth, Lancashire, BL9 8JR
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
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- District:
- Bury (Metropolitan Authority)
- Parish:
- Non Civil Parish
- National Grid Reference:
- SD8198107127
Summary
War Memorial of 1923 with additional names of the Second World War, comprising an octagonal cross with wreath and sword, on a stepped base with inscriptions, executed in pale cream stone.
Reasons for Designation
Unsworth War Memorial, a war memorial of 1923 with additional names of the Second World War, 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 elegantly-proportioned variation on the Cross of Sacrifice, displaying good detailing and craftsmanship in the overall design and the original lettering.
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, as a result both of the huge impact the loss of three quarters of a million British lives had on communities, and of 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.
Although located in Unsworth Pole, the memorial is to the Fallen of the whole of Unsworth. The Unsworth War Memorial does not appear on the 1922 1:2,500 Ordnance Survey (OS) map, but this map does show the triangular green which had been created by the straightening of Chapel Lane (now Parr Lane), and a flagstaff is marked within it. The memorial is thought to have been erected in 1923, although it is first marked on the 1:1,250 OS map of 1957. Additional names were added following the Second World War.
Details
First World War memorial of 1923 with additional names of the Second World War.
MATERIALS: pale cream stone.
PLAN: an octagonal cross on a stepped base.
DESCRIPTION: standing within a small green, enclosed on the two eastern sides by attractive earlier railings with a gateway. The octagonal base has two steps with a chamfered plinth to the lower step. Above this is a podium with a stepping, moulded plinth, moulded upper edge and flat top. On this stands the cross, with a moulded and chamfered foot. The tapering shaft is octagonal, as are the arms, which have pointed pommels like that which terminates the shaft. The whole echoes the form of a sword, and the front face (facing NW) is carved with a sword in relief, with a laurel wreath over the centre of the cross. Triangular projections fill each angle of the cross.
The inscriptions are on the podium and base, in well-crafted, serifed lettering. The front (NW) panel of the podium is inscribed: THIS CROSS/ WAS ERECTED BY THE/ PEOPLE OF UNSWORTH/ AS A TOKEN OF DEEP/ GRATITUDE TO THOSE WHO/ LAID DOWN THEIR LIVES/ IN THE GREAT WAR/ - AD - / 1914-1918./ “GREATER LOVE HATH/ NO MAN THAN THIS.”
The inscription continues anti-clockwise, with the names of the Fallen, nine on some faces and eight on others, totalling 60, listed alphabetically by surname and without ranks. Beneath these panels, immediately above the top step of the base, the plinth of the podium is inscribed with the theatres of war, beginning with France under the dedication, and continuing anti-clockwise with Salonica, Mesopotamia, Italy, Egypt, Jutland, Gallipoli, and Belgium.
The central three risers of the top step of the base are inscribed with the names of the Fallen from the Second World War, starting to the left of the dedication, listed alphabetically and totalling eight. The central riser of the lower step of the base is inscribed with the dates 1939-1945.
This List entry has been amended to add the source for War Memorials Online. This source was not used in the compilation of this List entry but is added here as a guide for further reading, 20 July 2017.
Sources
Websites
War Memorials Register, accessed 16 February 2017 from www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/44035
Local history website, accessed 16 February 2017 from https://sites.google.com/site/unsworthpolewarmemorial/unsworth-war-memorial
War memorials history website, accessed 16 February 2017 from www.roll-of-honour.com/Lancashire/UnsworthPole.html
War Memorials Online, accessed 20 July 2017 from https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/229422
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
The listed building is shown coloured blue on the attached map. Pursuant to s.1 (5A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 (‘the Act’), structures attached to or within the curtilage of the listed building (save those coloured blue on the map) are not to be treated as part of the listed building for the purposes of the Act.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 09-Jun-2026 at 18:34:00.
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.