Naphill War Memorial
East side of the junction of Main Road and Downley Road, Naphill
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1445159
- Date first listed:
- 05-Apr-2017
- List Entry Name:
- Naphill War Memorial
- Statutory Address:
- East side of the junction of Main Road and Downley Road, Naphill
Location
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1445159
- Date first listed:
- 05-Apr-2017
- List Entry Name:
- Naphill War Memorial
- Statutory Address 1:
- East side of the junction of Main Road and Downley Road, Naphill
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:
- East side of the junction of Main Road and Downley Road, Naphill
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- District:
- Buckinghamshire (Unitary Authority)
- Parish:
- Hughenden
- National Grid Reference:
- SU8468496974
Summary
First World War memorial with names of those who fell in the Second World War added later.
Reasons for Designation
Naphill War Memorial, which stands on the east corner of Main Road and Downley Road, Naphill, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reason:
* 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.
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 Naphill, 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 large stones used for the memorial were donated. They came from the clay pits at neighbouring Walters Ash and are a hard white sandstone, known locally as Denner Hill stone after the area in which many of them were found.
Details
Situated on the corner of a crossroad, adjacent to the village hall, Naphill War Memorial takes the form of a smooth-sided cairn of local sand stone. It is composed of a number of large stones, the gaps between them filled with smaller stones bedded in with mortar. This stands on a square random-rubble stone dais with a stone plaque on two sides. The plaque to the front bears the inscription:
A STONE/ OF/ REMEMBRANCE/ TO THE/ MEN OF NAPHILL/ WHO FELL IN THE GREAT WAR
The second plaque, on the NE side, bears the names of the ten men of Naphill who fell during the war. The names of two men who fell during the Second World War have been added.
The memorial stands on an area of 'crazy' paving - a surface which became popular during the inter-war period - within a small garden of remembrance which is surrounded by low random-rubble stone wall.
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
War Memorials Register, accessed 6 June 2017 from http://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/8302
War Memorials Online, accessed 6 June 2017 from https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/230782
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 11-Jun-2026 at 18:21:11.
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.