Wolvercote War Memorial

St Peter's Churchyard, First Turn, Wolvercote, Oxfordshire, OX2

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

Overview

First World War memorial. Read the official list entry to find out more.

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1449828
Date first listed:: 18-Oct-2017
List Entry Name:: Wolvercote War Memorial
Statutory Address:: St Peter's Churchyard, First Turn, Wolvercote, Oxfordshire, OX2

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1449828
Date first listed:: 18-Oct-2017
List Entry Name:: Wolvercote War Memorial
Statutory Address 1:: St Peter's Churchyard, First Turn, Wolvercote, Oxfordshire, OX2

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:: St Peter's Churchyard, First Turn, Wolvercote, Oxfordshire, OX2

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

County:: Oxfordshire
District:: Oxford (District Authority)
Parish:: Non Civil Parish
National Grid Reference:: SP4966409818

Summary

First World War memorial.

Reasons for Designation

Wolvercote War Memorial, which is situated in St Peter’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 the local community, and the sacrifice it made during the First World War.

Architectural interest:

* A well-executed Celtic wheel-head cross with a finely carved knot work design.

Group value:

* With the Grade II-listed buildings the Church of St Peter, Church Hall and Old Church House.

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 Wolvercote 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 was presumably erected not long after the end of the war and was in situ by 29 October 1919, when a photograph of the memorial was published in the Oxford Journal Illustrated. The memorial commemorates 53 local service men, of which at least six names were added at a later date.

Details

First World War memorial.

DESCRIPTION: Wolvercote War Memorial is located in the churchyard to the west of the Grade II-listed Church of St Peter, and is in close proximity to the Grade II-listed buildings Church Hall and Old Church House.

It is of granite and takes the form of a Celtic wheel-head cross with tapering shaft; the east face of the cross-head and part of the shaft has a knot work design carved in relief. The shaft rises from a tapering plinth with a square, block foot surmounting a chamfered square base. All lettering is in lead.

The inscription is to the east face of the plinth and reads TO THE GLORY OF GOD/ AND IN MEMORY OF/ THE MEN OF WOLVERCOTE/ WHO NOBLY GAVE THEIR LIVES/ FOR THEIR COUNTRY/ IN THE GREAT WAR/ 1914 – 1918. The 53 names of the men who died are listed to the remaining three faces of the plinth.

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, 30 January 2018.

Sources

Books and journals
'Local War Memorials' in Oxford Journal Illustrated, , Vol. 9,656 [New Series 526], (29 October 1919), pp1
Websites
War Memorials Online, accessed 30 January 2018 from https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/251061
War Memorials Register - Wolvercote, accessed 6 October 2017 from http://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/32081

Legal

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