Great Cressingham War Memorial
The churchyard, Church of St Michael, Priory Drive, Great Cressingham, Norfolk, IP25 6NH
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1446436
- Date first listed:
- 01-Jun-2017
- List Entry Name:
- Great Cressingham War Memorial
- Statutory Address:
- The churchyard, Church of St Michael, Priory Drive, Great Cressingham, Norfolk, IP25 6NH
Location
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1446436
- Date first listed:
- 01-Jun-2017
- List Entry Name:
- Great Cressingham War Memorial
- Statutory Address 1:
- The churchyard, Church of St Michael, Priory Drive, Great Cressingham, Norfolk, IP25 6NH
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:
- The churchyard, Church of St Michael, Priory Drive, Great Cressingham, Norfolk, IP25 6NH
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- County:
- Norfolk
- District:
- Breckland (District Authority)
- Parish:
- Great Cressingham
- National Grid Reference:
- TF8520001759
Summary
First World War memorial. Wheel-head grey granite cross with sword of sacrifice, on a plinth with single-stepped base.
Reasons for Designation
Great Cressingham War Memorial, which is situated in St Michael’s churchyard, 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 First World War;
* Architectural interest: as a simple yet well-executed granite cross;
* Degree of survival: unusually, the memorial has not been adapted for Second World War commemoration, and thus retains its original design intent;
* Group value: with the Grade I-listed Church of St Michael.
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 Great Cressingham as a permanent testament to the sacrifice made by the members of the local community who lost their lives in the First World War. It commemorates 12 local servicemen who died in the conflict and had been raised in the churchyard by 1924, when it was used in that year’s Remembrance Day service.
Details
Great Cressingham War Memorial is located in the churchyard of the Church of St Michael (Grade I-listed), standing to the north of the church tower. It comprises a rough-hewn grey granite wheel-head cross with a reversed sword carved in relief on the front, standing on a plinth with a single-stepped base below. The plinth bears the inscriptions in applied metal lettering, reading TO THE GLORY OF GOD AND IN HONOURED MEMORY/ OF THE MEN OF THIS PARISH WHO FELL IN THE/ GREAT WAR 1914 – 1918/ (12 NAMES)/ THEIR NAME LIVETH FOR EVERMORE.
Sources
Websites
War Memorials Online, accessed 3 April 2017 from https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/181078/
War Memorials Register, accessed 3 July 2017 from http://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/56013
Other
"Great Cressingham", Thetford and Watton Times and People's Weekly Gazette, 15 November 1924, p4
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 20-Jun-2026 at 07:23:02.
Download a full scale map (PDF)End of official list entry
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