Gaddesby war memorial and associated railings
Church of St Luke, Church Lane, Gaddesby, Leicestershire, LE7 4WE
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1441835
- Date first listed:
- 10-Feb-2017
- List Entry Name:
- Gaddesby war memorial and associated railings
- Statutory Address:
- Church of St Luke, Church Lane, Gaddesby, Leicestershire, LE7 4WE
Location
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1441835
- Date first listed:
- 10-Feb-2017
- List Entry Name:
- Gaddesby war memorial and associated railings
- Statutory Address 1:
- Church of St Luke, Church Lane, Gaddesby, Leicestershire, LE7 4WE
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:
- Church of St Luke, Church Lane, Gaddesby, Leicestershire, LE7 4WE
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- County:
- Leicestershire
- District:
- Melton (District Authority)
- Parish:
- Gaddesby
- National Grid Reference:
- SK6894313016
Summary
War memorial and associated railings, unveiled in 1926, dedicated to the fallen of the First and Second World Wars.
Reasons for Designation
Gaddesby war memorial and its associated railings are 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 sacrifices it made in the conflicts of the C20;
* Group value: for its relationship with the Church of St Luke (listed at Grade I) and Gaddesby Hall (listed at Grade II), with which it forms a group.
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 the country. 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 Gaddesby as a permanent testament to the sacrifice made by the members of the local community who lost their lives in the First World War.
Gaddesby war memorial was erected in memory of 7 residents of the village who fell during the First World War (1914-18), and was unveiled in a ceremony in April 1926 by Major-General John Vaughan. The granite memorial was designed and executed by George Collin and Son of Regent Street, Leicester, and was erected at a cost of £101, the funds for which were raised by public subscriptions and fundraising events. The memorial stands within the churchyard of the Church of St Luke (listed at grade I), on land donated by Captain J O Sherrard of nearby Gaddesby Hall (listed at grade II). Following the Second World War (1939-45) a further 7 names of the fallen were added to the memorial. A grant was awarded by the War Memorials Trust in 2008 for the cleaning, re-pointing and re-painting of the memorial.
Details
War memorial and associated railings, unveiled in 1926, designed by George Collin and Son, dedicated to the fallen of the First and Second World Wars.
The memorial is constructed of polished Aberdeen Glencoe granite, and comprises an obelisk over a square-plan plinth and two-stepped base. The base is inscribed with the name of the sculptor ‘G COLLIN, REGENT STREET, LEICESTER’.
The front (west) elevation of the memorial is inscribed: ‘TO THE / GLORY OF GOD / AND IN / GRATEFUL / MEMORY / OF THE MEN OF / GADDESBY / WHO LAID DOWN / THEIR LIVES IN / THE GREAT WAR / 1914-1918 / (7 NAMES) / GREATER LOVE HATH NO MAN THAN THIS.’ The rear (east) elevation of the memorial is inscribed: ‘TO THE / GLORY OF GOD / AND IN / GRATEFUL / MEMORY / OF THE MEN OF / GADDESBY / WHO LAID DOWN / THEIR LIVES IN / THE WORLD WAR / 1939-1945 / (7 NAMES) / THEY GAVE THEIR TO-MORROWS / THAT YOU MIGHT HAVE YOUR TO-DAYS.’
The memorial is bounded by paving slabs and enclosed by arched cast-iron railings, with a central gate to the west. The memorial stands approximately 25m south-west of the Church of St Luke (listed at grade I), and is prominently located along the walking route from the village to the church.
This List entry has been amended to add sources for War Memorials Online and the War Memorials Register. These sources were not used in the compilation of this List entry but are added here as a guide for further reading, 20 February 2017.
Sources
Websites
Leicestershire County Council, War Memorials Project, Gaddesby, accessed 24 November 2016 from http://www.leics.gov.uk/warmemorials_gaddesby.htm
War Memorials Register, accessed 20 February 2017 from http://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/3677
War Memorials Online, accessed 20 February 2017 from https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/118987
Other
Grantham Journal, Saturday 10 April 1926, p.12
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(s) is/are 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 29-Jun-2026 at 08:28:22.
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.