Winlaton War Memorial

Summary

First World War memorial by FH Wood FRIBA, unveiled 1918, with later additions for the Second World War.

Reasons for Designation

Winlaton War Memorial, which stands outside the parish church, 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 local community, and the sacrifice it has made in the conflicts of the C20;
* Architectural interest: a richly ornamented wheel-head cross in the Celtic style;
* Group value: with the Grade II-listed Church of St Paul.

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 Winlaton 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 unveiled on 22 May 1918 by Mr Frank Priestman JP and dedicated by the Bishop of Durham. It commemorates 107 local servicemen who died in the First World War; by the time of the unveiling, before the Armistice, 70 names had been recorded on the cross. The memorial cost £300, raised by public subscription. It was designed by Mr WH Wood FRIBA and made by Messrs Maile and Sons. The names of 49 men who died in the Second World War were added following that conflict.

WH Wood FRIBA also designed the war memorial Rood Screen at St Catherine's Church, Crook (Durham), whilst Messrs Maile and Sons Ltd, sculptors and church furnishers, were responsible for building many war memorials across the country, including those at Bishopsgate, Pirton, and Old Woking (all Grade II-listed).

Details

The memorial stands outside the west end of the Church of St Paul (Grade II-listed). Made of Chollerford stone, it takes the form of a tall wheel-head cross in the style of the Monasterboice High Cross. The front face of the cross is richly ornamented with carved interlace patterns and hemispherical bosses, with the figure of Christ crucified carved in low relief to the front of the cross head. The cross shaft rises from the chamfered top of the plinth, that stands on a three-stepped base.

The principal dedicatory inscription begins on the front-facing chamfer of the plinth, reading UPON THE CRUCIFIED ONE LOOK/ AND THOU SHALT READ AS IN A BOOK/ WHAT WELL IS WORTH THY LEARNING and continues below on the front face of the plinth IN MEMORY OF THOSE WHO HAVE GIVEN THEIR LIVES/ FOR GOD, FOR KING AND FOR COUNTRY/ IN THE GREAT WAR 1914-1918/ AND IN THE SECOND WORLD WAR 1939-1945. The commemorated names are recorded to each face of the plinth including the chamfered top.


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, 22 February 2017.

Sources

Websites
North East War Memorials Project, accessed 19 December 2016 from http://www.newmp.org.uk/detail.php?contentId=9362
War Memorials Register, accessed 22 February 2017 from http://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/42193
War Memorials Online, accessed 22 February 2017 from https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/249179

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.

Print the official list entry