Michaelstow war memorial
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1448632
- Date first listed:
- 02-Aug-2017
- List Entry Name:
- Michaelstow war memorial
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Location
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1448632
- Date first listed:
- 02-Aug-2017
- List Entry Name:
- Michaelstow war memorial
- Location Description:
- located in the churchyard of the Church of St Michael, Michaelstow, Cornwall
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
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- District:
- Cornwall (Unitary Authority)
- Parish:
- Michaelstow
- National Grid Reference:
- SX0805878863
Summary
War memorial, erected in about 1919.
Reasons for Designation
Michaelstow War Memorial is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
Architectural interest:
* For its accomplished and well-realised design in the form of a Celtic-style wheel cross;
* It survives unaltered in its original location.
Historic interest:
* As an eloquent witness to the tragic impact of world events on the local community, and the sacrifice it made in the First World War;
* For its recognition of the contribution made by a British Red Cross nurse during the First World War.
Group value:
* For its relationship with the Grade I Church of St Michael, and the several designated assets within the churchyard.
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 the country. 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 the Chuch of St Michael in Michaelstow. It was funded by parishioners and erected in about 1919.
Details
War memorial, erected in about 1919.
MATERIALS: granite, with black metal lettering on marble tablets.
DESCRIPTION: located to the left of the west entrance to the Church of St Michael (Grade I), the war memorial comprises a Celtic-style wheel cross with tapered rectangular shaft, surmounted on a tapered square plinth and square base. The plinth, shaft and cross have incised border detail. On the west face of the plinth is an inset marble tablet with an inscription in black metal lettering that reads:
ERECTED BY THE PARISHIONERS IN PROUD / AND UNDYING MEMORY OF THE MEN WHO / GAVE THEIR LIVES FOR THEIR COUNTRY IN / THE GREAT WAR 1914 – 1918 / (NAMES) / “GREATER LOVE HATH NO MAN THAN THIS.”
The inscription records the three men of the parish who died during the First World War.
There is an additional marble tablet to the south face of the plinth with the inscription:
ALSO IN HONOURED AND GRATEFUL / MEMORY OF THOSE WHO RETURNED / IN SAFETY.
The inscription lists the names of the 18 men of the parish who served and returned, as well as Beatrice Matthews, a Red Cross nurse.
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, 24 November 2017.
Sources
Websites
War Memorials Register, accessed 28 June 2017 from http://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/26157
War Memorials Online, accessed 24 November 2017 from https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/253516
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
The listed building is shown coloured blue on the attached map. Pursuant to s.1 (5A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 (‘the Act’), structures attached to or within the curtilage of the listed building (save those coloured blue on the map) are not to be treated as part of the listed building for the purposes of the Act.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 21-Jun-2026 at 14:52:59.
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.