Bradninch War Memorial

The Guildhall, Fore Street, Bradninch, Devon, EX5 4NN

Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places

Overview

First World War memorial, unveiled 1920, with additions for later conflicts. Read the official list entry to find out more.

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1448448
Date first listed:: 03-Aug-2017
List Entry Name:: Bradninch War Memorial
Statutory Address:: The Guildhall, Fore Street, Bradninch, Devon, EX5 4NN

User submitted image — Uploaded by War Memorials Online This photo may not represent the current condition of the site
View all

Location

Location of this list entry and nearby places that are also listed. Use our map search to find more listed places.

There is a problem

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

Find out more about listing

Historic England Archive

Search over 1 million photographs and drawings from the 1850s to the present day using our images archive.

Find Photos

Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1448448
Date first listed:: 03-Aug-2017
List Entry Name:: Bradninch War Memorial
Statutory Address 1:: The Guildhall, Fore Street, Bradninch, Devon, EX5 4NN

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.

Understanding list entries

Corrections and minor amendments

This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.

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.

Understanding list entries

Corrections and minor amendments

Location

Statutory Address:: The Guildhall, Fore Street, Bradninch, Devon, EX5 4NN

The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

County:: Devon
District:: Mid Devon (District Authority)
Parish:: Bradninch
National Grid Reference:: SS9996103997

Summary

First World War memorial, unveiled 1920, with additions for later conflicts.

Reasons for Designation

Bradninch War Memorial, which stands in front of the Guildhall, 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 made in the conflicts of the C20; Architectural interest: * An imposing granite wheel-head cross in the Celtic style, including well-executed interlace carving;

Group value: * With the Guildhall (Grade II) and a number of other Grade II-listed buildings in the environs.

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 Bradninch as a permanent testament to the sacrifice made by the members of the district who lost their lives in the First World War.

Following public meetings held to determine an appropriate war memorial, the decision was made to erect a monumental cross outside the Guildhall (Grade II-listed). The cross was unveiled by Brigadier-General D’Arcy Thomas on 22 February 1920, during a well-attended ecumenical service led by the Vicar, Reverend W Pryke, and Baptist Minister Reverend B Horlick.

Some 280 men from Hele and Bradninch, including some who had earlier emigrated to Canada, had served, as well as a number of women who served in both an official capacity as well as on the Home Front. The memorial commemorates 52 men who died. Following the Second World War the details of a further 12 men were added, and the name of a soldier who died in the Korean War is also commemorated.

Details

The tall Dartmoor granite memorial stands in the forecourt of the town Guildhall (Grade II-listed). It takes the form of a wheel-head cross in the Celtic style, standing on a plinth and three-stepped octagonal base. The arms of the wheel-head cross are ornamented with interlace knots and a central hemispherical boss. A small shield bearing the town’s heraldic device, a spread eagle, decorates the foot of the cross shaft.

The principal dedicatory inscription to the front face of the tapering plinth reads: FAITHFUL TO KING AND COUNTRY./ TO THE HONOURED MEMORY/ OF THE MEN OF BRADNINCH/ WHO LAID DOWN THEIR LIVES/ IN THE GREAT WAR/ 1914 – 1919./ "BECAUSE YOU LIVE, THOUGH OUT OF SIGHT, AND REACH,/ I WILL, SO HELP ME GOD, GIVE BRAVELY TOO". The commemorated First World War names are listed on the plinth sides.

A later dedication on the front face of the uppermost step reads: ALSO OF THOSE/ WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES/ IN THE WAR 1939 - 1945, with the Second World War names recorded on other faces of this step. Below, on the front face of the middle step, an inscription reads: WAR IN KOREA/ (1 NAME).

Sources

Websites
War Memorials Online, accessed 21 June 2017 from https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/154432/
War Memorials Register, accessed 21 June 2017 from http://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/25488
Other
“Bradninch War Memorial”, Western Times, 11 April 1919, p10
“Bradninch War Memorial”, Western Times, 31 March 1919, p2
“Keeping Their Memory Green”, Western Times, 27 February 1920, p7

Legal

This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.