Wiswell School War Memorial

Summary

A First World War memorial of 1925, with an added Second World War name, built into the E wall of the Old School whose alumni it commemorates and comprises a stone tablet with moulded hood, lintel and surround, with a stone plinth at the foot of the wall.

Reasons for Designation

Wiswell School War Memorial, a war memorial of 1925 which is built into the E wall of the Old School, 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;
* Architectural interest: adapting traditional stonework forms of doors and windows and with characterful lettering and symbolism attractively picked out using paint.

History

After a short service conducted by the vicar of Whalley, the memorial was unveiled on 19 April 1925 by Major L Green of Whalley, honouring the 14 men who had given their lives, from a village population of only 200. Maj Green led the local battalion when they first went into action at Gallipoli, a few days less than eight years previously. Canon Wrigley (the Vicar of Clitheroe and Rural Dean of Whalley) gave an address, and the Last Post was sounded as a wreath was laid at the close of the ceremony.

After the Second World War, the single additional name was included on the sill of the surround. In the late C20 the Parish Council added the setts in front of the memorial.

Details

First World War memorial of 1925 with an additional name of the Second World War.

MATERIALS: built of local buff sandstone.

PLAN: comprising a sandstone tablet inset into the wall of a former school, with an altar-like plinth below.

DESCRIPTION: built into the E wall of the Old School and with an adjacent semi-circular forecourt* of traditional stone setts and cobbles.

The tablet is inscribed with the names of the 14 old boys of Wiswell School who fell in the First World War, in well-carved letters picked out in black paint. The inscription above the names reads: REMEMBER/ THE OLD BOYS OF/ WISWELL SCHOOL/ WHO FELL IN THE WAR/ 1914-1918.

The names are alphabetised by surname with no ranks. The tablet has a decorative roll-moulding surround, whose sill is inscribed with the single name from the Second World War, flanked by the dates 1939 and 1945. At the head, a central tongue projects downwards, which is concave at the base, forming a calvary for a carved wheel-head cross within the tongue, painted gold. To either side of the tongue are wheels in relief with a black-painted recessed centre containing swastikas in relief, also painted gold. The tablet is surmounted by a hood-mould, possibly of C17 date.

At ground level below the tablet is a shallow, rectangular plinth, resembling an altar, with a recessed centre to the front face and a projecting table-like top, depressed in the centre to form a trough used for planting.

*Pursuant to s.1 (5A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 (‘the Act’) it is declared that the aforementioned items are not of special architectural or historic interest.


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 July 2017.

Sources

Websites
Burnley News, Wednesday 22 April 1925, at British Newspaper Archive, accessed 9 February 2017 from http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000699/19250422/085/0005
War Memorials Register, accessed 20 July 2017 from http://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/3366
War Memorials Online, accessed 20 July 2017 from https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/138195

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.