Caversham War Memorial
Christchurch Meadows, Promenade Road, Reading, RG4 8AL
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1445141
- Date first listed:
- 04-Apr-2017
- List Entry Name:
- Caversham War Memorial
- Statutory Address:
- Christchurch Meadows, Promenade Road, Reading, RG4 8AL
Location
Location of this list entry and nearby places that are also listed. Use our map search to find more listed places.
Use of this mapping is subject to terms and conditions .
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale.
What is the National Heritage List for England?
The National Heritage List for England is a unique register of our country's most significant historic buildings and sites. The places on the list are protected by law and most are not open to the public.
The list includes:
 |
Buildings |
 |
Scheduled monuments |
 |
Parks and gardens |
 |
Battlefields |
 |
Shipwrecks |
Local Heritage Hub
Unlock and explore hidden histories, aerial photography, and listed buildings and places for every county, district, city and major town across England.
Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1445141
- Date first listed:
- 04-Apr-2017
- List Entry Name:
- Caversham War Memorial
- Location Description:
- SU 71269 74541
- Statutory Address 1:
- Christchurch Meadows, Promenade Road, Reading, RG4 8AL
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:
- Christchurch Meadows, Promenade Road, Reading, RG4 8AL
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- District:
- Reading (Unitary Authority)
- Parish:
- Non Civil Parish
- National Grid Reference:
- SU7127074541
Summary
First World War memorial, unveiled in 1928. Also commemorating later conflicts.
Reasons for Designation
Caversham War Memorial, which stands on Christchurch Meadows, Caversham, 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: as a simple, elegant, memorial which is stylistically redolent of its inter-war date.
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 Caversham, 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 the 5 May 1928.
In 2005 the names of those who died in the Second World War (both civilians and servicemen) were added to the memorial, inscribed into new stone panels. One panel was left blank to allow for future conflicts and in 2009 the name of a local soldier who died while serving in Afghanistan was added.
Details
The memorial takes the form of an octagonal stone column, or obelisk, slightly elongated in section, set on an octagonal plinth with two steps at the base. The shorter pairs of sides on the main shaft become convex as they rise upwards and the shaft terminates in a fluted band. Above, the column steps in, its face is carved with a Latin cross in shallow relief, and terminates in a pyramidal cap. One face of the column is carved with the names of the 260 fallen of the First World War, with the inscription: 1914-1918 / TO THE GLORY / OF GOD.
On the face of the plinth below is the following inscription:
THEY WHOM THIS MEMORIAL/ COMMEMORATES WERE NUMBERED AMONG/ THOSE WHO AT THE CALL OF KING AND/ COUNTRY. LEFT ALL THAT WAS DEAR TO/ THEM. ENDURED HARDSHIP. FACED DANGER/ AND FINALLY PASSED OUT OF THE SIGHT/ OF MEN BY THE PATH OF DUTY AND SELF/ SACRIFICE. GIVING UP THEIR OWN LIVES/ THAT OTHERS MIGHT LIVE IN FREEDOM/ LET THOSE THAT COME AFTER SEE TO IT/ THAT THEIR NAMES BE NOT FORGOTTEN/ 1939 - 1945
On each of the other five faces of the plinth are later stone tablets with the names of those who lost their lives in the Second World War - both civilians (nine names) and servicemen (173 names) - and a single name for the Afghanistan conflict of 2001-2014.
The memorial stands on a hexagonal area of 'crazy' paving, a paving technique which became popular in the inter-war period.
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, 6 June 2017.
Sources
Websites
Image of the unveiling of Caversham War Memorial, accessed 21 February 2017 from http://www.berkshirestories.org.uk/archive/post-1918-images-berkshire/126006
War Memorials Register, accessed 6 June 2017 from http://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/9058
War Memorials Online, accessed 6 June 2017 from https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/210686
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 10-Jun-2026 at 10:35:23.
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.