Bicker War Memorial

Summary

First World War memorial cross, unveiled 1920, with later additions.

Reasons for Designation

Bicker War Memorial, which stands at the junction of Church Road, Monument Road and School Lane, 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 elegant memorial Calvary cross incorporating heraldic devices and, as well as a crucifixion, the sculpted figures of the Madonna and Child.

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 Bicker 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 Sunday 10 October 1920 in a ceremony attended by local people, and included the choir of St Swithin’s Church, the Reverend George Herbert Clark, Major SC Wright DSO and Mr WS Royce MP. The ceremony combined welcoming home returning soldiers, with the commemoration of those who had died. The memorial was designed and constructed by Messrs M Tuttell and Son of Lincoln, who built numerous war memorials in Lincolnshire including those at Canwick, Eagle, and Witham on the Hill (all Grade II-listed).

The dedication includes the names of 13 people who died during the First World War, including Nurse Martha Jane Pattrick (d1917), as well as three who died at home from the effects of war. Following the Second World War an additional inscription was added to the memorial with a further four names.

Details

The memorial is located within a wrought-iron fenced island at the junction of Church Road, Monument Road, High Street and School Lane, facing north-west towards the centre of the village. It is a stone monument in the style of a traditional Lincolnshire wayside cross, with a square, three-stepped base. Polished granite plaques are fixed to the uppermost block. Standing on this block is a hexagonal plinth with broach stops, and shield devices carved in relief on the four corners. Running around the memorial clockwise from the eastern corner, the shields are carved with the inscriptions PRO PATRIA, PRO REGE, and PRO DEO, with the final shield being illegible.

Rising from this plinth is a hooded Calvary cross with a hexagonal tapering shaft. The hooded cross-head rises from a moulded collar. The image of Christ on the Cross is carved on the north-western face of the memorial, with the Madonna and Child on the south-eastern side.

The inscriptions, in black-painted incised lettering, are located on the granite plaques. The north-western panel is inscribed IN GRATEFUL REMEMBRANCE OF/ THOSE OF BICKER WHO FELL IN/ THE GREAT WAR/ AUG. 1914 - NOV 1918/ (13 NAMES). The south-eastern panel is inscribed DIED AT HOME/ FROM THE EFFECTS OF WAR/ (3 NAMES). The north-eastern panel is inscribed 1939-45/ (4 NAMES). The south-western panel is blank.


This List entry has been amended to add the source for War Memorials Online. This source was not used in the compilation of this List entry but is added here as a guide for further reading, 25 September 2017.

Sources

Books and journals
Credland, M, The First World War Memorials of Lincolnshire, (2014), 21, 49

Websites
War Memorials Register, accessed 27 December 2016 from http://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/62022
War Memorials Online, accessed 25 September 2017 from https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/253506

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