Clun War Memorial

Summary

A churchyard war memorial cross, of Cornish grey granite, unveiled in June 1921.

Reasons for Designation

Clun War Memorial, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Historic interest: as an eloquent witness to the tragic impacts of world events on this community, and the sacrifices it made in the conflicts of the C20;
* Architectural interest: as an accomplished and well-realised war memorial, which takes the form of a churchyard cross with wall tablets;
* Group value: with the Church of St George (Grade II*), the Vicarage (Grade II*) and various listed churchyard monuments (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 which meant that the memorials provided the main focus of the grief felt at this great loss.

One such memorial was raised at the Church of St George in Clun 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 5 June 1921 and cost £340. It was altered after 1945 with the addition of the names fallen from the Second World War.

Details

A churchyard war memorial cross, unveiled in June 1921.

MATERIALS & PLAN: Cornish granite. The monument is sited in a churchyard which is raised above road height. It has plaques, flanked by buttresses, set into the churchyard wall. The cross, base and plinth are set immediately above and behind this in the churchyard.

The north, road, front has granite plaques set between buttresses of local stone with offsets to their tops of granite. The rectangular plaques have moulded frames and recessed panels with inset lead lettering. Above the names of the fallen is inscribed: TO THE MEN OF CLUN / WHO DIED FOR THEIR COUNTRY / 1914 - 1919'. A separate, lower plaque is inscribed: '1939 - 1945' above the names of the fallen from that war and below this is a further, small, granite plaque inscribed: '1972 / N. IRELAND' with a single name. The platform of the churchyard cross connects with the buttress tops and has two steps to the plinth, the lower of which has a semi-circular concave indent to each side. Above the plinth is a square base with a moulded top which supports the octagonal shaft which is gently tapered. The cross has a circular boss at the centre carrying a shield to the road front, and a crown finial.


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, 10 March 2017.

Sources

Websites
War Memorials Register, accessed 10 March 2017 from http://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/13786
War Memorials Online, accessed 10 March 2017 from https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/138395

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