Caistor St Edmund War Memorial

Summary

War memorial, unveiled in 1922, dedicated to the fallen of the First and Second World Wars.

Reasons for Designation

Caistor St Edmund 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.
* Group value: for its strong relationship with nearby designated heritage assets, including the scheduled remains of the Roman fort Venta Icenorum, and the Church of St Edmund (listed at Grade II*).

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: therefore the memorials provided the main focus of the grief felt at this great loss. One such memorial was raised at Caistor St Edmund as a permanent testament to the sacrifice made by the members of the local community who lost their lives in the First World War.

Caistor St Edmund war memorial was erected in memory of 8 residents of the village who fell during the First World War (1914-18), and was unveiled in a ceremony by Reverend John Corbould Warren, the Rector of Caistor-with-Markshall in 1922. The memorial is shown in its current location on the 1928 Ordnance Survey map, at the west entrance of the scheduled Roman fort Venta Icenorum, on the historic walking route from the village of Caistor St Edmund to the Church of St Edmund (listed at Grade II*). One more name was added to the memorial after the Second World War (1939-45), commemorating the loss of a pilot from the village.

Details

War memorial, unveiled in 1922, dedicated to the fallen of the First and Second World Wars.

The limestone war memorial takes the form of a tapered octagonal-plan cross bearing a crucifix on its front (east) elevation, standing on a square-plan plinth and two-stepped platform. The plinth is inscribed on its front elevation and reads: ‘LET US ALWAYS REMEMBER / BEFORE GOD THESE GALLANT / MEN WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES / FOR THE EMPIRE AND FOR / FREEDOM IN THE GREAT WAR / 1914 - 1918’.

The memorial stands at the west entrance and within the scheduled remains of the Roman fort Venta Icenorum, approximately 105m north of the Church of St Edmund (listed at Grade II*).

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 February 2017.

Sources

Websites
A Village at War: Remembering the War Dead at Caistor St Edmund, accessed 9 November 2016 from https://docs.google.com/a/poringlandarchive.co.uk/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=cG9yaW5nbGFuZGFyY2hpdmUuY28udWt8cG9yaW5nbGFuZC1hcmNoaXZlfGd4OjgxMzBjMzhlNTc5YTQyMA
Caistor St Edmund Old Village, accessed 10 November 2016 from http://www.poringlandarchive.co.uk/caistor-st-edmund/caistor-st-edmund-old-village
Norfolk Archaeological Trust, Caistor St Edmund, accessed 10 November 2016 from http://www.norfarchtrust.org.uk/caistor
War Memorials Online, accessed 20 February 2017 from https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/216430

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