Broad Blunsdon War Memorial Cross
Burytown Cemetery, Burytown Lane, Broad Blunsdon, Swindon, SN26 7DQ
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1451039
- Date first listed:
- 08-Nov-2017
- List Entry Name:
- Broad Blunsdon War Memorial Cross
- Statutory Address:
- Burytown Cemetery, Burytown Lane, Broad Blunsdon, Swindon, SN26 7DQ
Location
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1451039
- Date first listed:
- 08-Nov-2017
- List Entry Name:
- Broad Blunsdon War Memorial Cross
- Statutory Address 1:
- Burytown Cemetery, Burytown Lane, Broad Blunsdon, Swindon, SN26 7DQ
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:
- Burytown Cemetery, Burytown Lane, Broad Blunsdon, Swindon, SN26 7DQ
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- District:
- Swindon (Unitary Authority)
- Parish:
- Blunsdon
- National Grid Reference:
- SU1553290790
Summary
First World War memorial cross, with later additions for the Second World War.
Reasons for Designation
Broad Blunsdon War Memorial, which stands in the cemetery, 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 in the conflicts of the C20.
Architectural interest:
* a simple yet poignant stone memorial cross.
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 in the cemetery at Broad Blunsdon as a permanent testament to the sacrifice made by 21 members of the local community who lost their lives in the First World War. The memorial had been erected by 1922, when the Ordnance Survey County Series 1:2500 map sheet for the area was revised.
The names of 6 parishioners who died during the Second World War were subsequently added to the memorial.
Details
The stone memorial stands in the main path through Broad Blunsdon's cemetery (the cemetery had been opened in 1889 following the closure of the churchyard of the nearby Church of St Leonard (Grade II*)).
The memorial comprises a Latin cross rising from the moulded collar of a tapering shaft, octagonal in section, which stands on a square plinth. The whole is mounted on a three-stepped base. The inscription and names are incised into the faces of the plinth, with leaded and painted lettering. The rank, name, battalion, date of death and age of each of the fallen are given.
The main inscription, on the north-west face of the plinth reads TO THE GLORIOUS MEMORY OF THE MEN OF/ THIS VILLAGE, WHO FELL IN THE GREAT WAR/ 1914 - 1919 / (5 NAMES). The north-east- and south-west-facing sides of the plinth each record an additional eight names.
The south-east-facing side of the plinth features the later addition of the names of the fallen of the Second World War, reading 1939 - 1945 / (6 NAMES).
Sources
Websites
War Memorials Register, accessed 22 May 2017 from http://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/24142
War Memorials Online, accessed 22 May 2017 from https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/234435/
Other
Ordnance Survey County Series (1:2500), Wiltshire sheet X.8 (revised 1922, published 1923).
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 10-Jun-2026 at 09:51:49.
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.