Denver and District War Memorial

Village green at junction of Sluice Road and Whin Common Road, Denver, Norfolk

Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places

Overview

First World War memorial with Second World War additions. Read the official list entry to find out more.

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1442604
Date first listed:: 27-Jun-2017
List Entry Name:: Denver and District War Memorial
Statutory Address:: Village green at junction of Sluice Road and Whin Common Road, Denver, Norfolk

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1442604
Date first listed:: 27-Jun-2017
List Entry Name:: Denver and District War Memorial
Statutory Address 1:: Village green at junction of Sluice Road and Whin Common Road, Denver, Norfolk

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 at junction of Sluice Road and Whin Common Road, Denver, Norfolk

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

County:: Norfolk
District:: King's Lynn and West Norfolk (District Authority)
Parish:: Denver
National Grid Reference:: TF6139401574

Summary

First World War memorial with Second World War additions.

Reasons for Designation

Denver and District War Memorial, which is situated in the centre of Denver village at the junction of Sluice Road and Whin Common Road, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons: Historic interest: * as an eloquent witness to the tragic impact of world events on several local communities, and the sacrifice they made in the conflicts of the C20.

Architectural interest: * a well-executed Latin cross war memorial.

Group value: for its relationship with the Grade II*-listed Church of St Mary and the Grade II-listed Hardwick House.

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.

Denver and District’s war memorial was placed in the centre of the village on a green at the road junction. It represents not only the fallen from Denver, but also those from nearby Fordham, Roxham, Ryston and Bexwell. The memorial was presumably erected not long after the end of the war; a local newspaper reported on the approval of the plans for the war memorial in 1919, which was anticipated to cost £150 and was designed by Sir John Nicholson. The memorial commemorates 35 local servicemen who fell in the First World War and six men who fell in the Second World War. The Second World War casualties’ names were added in 1947.

Details

DESCRIPTION: Denver and District war memorial is located at Denver village centre junction, where Sluice Road and Whin Common Road meet, prominently situated on an open green space. It is in close proximity to the Grade II-listed Hardwick House and to the south-west of the Grade II*-listed Church of St Mary.

The memorial comprises a Portland stone Latin cross-head on a slender hexagonal shaft, atop a hexagonal plinth bearing inscriptions, below which is a four-stepped hexagonal base. The principal dedication is the First World War inscription carved in relief on the north face of the plinth. The names are on the other faces of the plinth, recorded below the place name of where they lived, and are in incised lettering that is painted black. The six names of the Second World War casualties were added later; five to the uppermost step of the base immediately beneath the principal dedication, and the other beneath the names for Fordham.

The principal inscription reads TO THE/ HONOURED/ MEMORY OF/ THOSE WHO/ FELL IN THE/ GREAT WAR/ 1914 – 1919/ ALSO/ 1939 – 1945

SUBSIDIARY FEATURES: The memorial is enclosed by six stone posts* with a chain* hung between them.

* Pursuant to s1 (5A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 ('the Act') it is declared that these aforementioned features are not of special or historic interest.

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, 3 July 2017.

Sources

Websites
War Memorials Online, accessed 3 July 2017 from https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/72068
War Memorials Register, accessed 29 November 2016 from http://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/53453
Other
‘Denver. Parish War Memorial’, Thetford & Watton Times and People's Weekly Journal, (29 March 1919), pp1.
Addition of Second World War names, Thetford & Watton Times and People's Weekly Journal, (16 August 1947), pp6.
OS Map 1:2500 (1928 edn)

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.