Wateringbury War Memorial Cross

Summary

First World War memorial cross, unveiled 1921, with later additions for the Second World War.

Reasons for Designation

Wateringbury War Memorial, which stands in the churchyard of the Church of St John the Baptist, 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 striking wheel-head cross, with carved interlace patterns, in the Celtic style.

Group value:

* with the Church of St John the Baptist (Grade II*), a group of churchyard monuments listed at Grade II and Grade II*, and 335, Tonbridge Road (Grade II).

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 Wateringbury as a permanent testament to the sacrifice made by 41 members of the local community who lost their lives in the First World War.

The memorial was unveiled by Major General Sir Arthur Lynden-Bell at a ceremony on 24 April 1921.The dedication was performed by the Right Reverend John Reginald Harmer. They also unveiled and dedicated a memorial shrine in the parish church, where the commemorated names are recorded.

The cross stood originally outside the Church Hall, at the junction of the A26 and B2015, but it was moved approximately 700m to the west where it now stands outside the parish church. An inscription for the Second World War was added following that conflict, in the same style as the First World War inscription.

Details

The granite memorial cross is located at the edge of the churchyard of the Church of St John the Baptist (Grade II*), in close proximity to a group of Grade II- and Grade II*-listed churchyard monuments. The memorial cross stands on a tapering plinth with convex sides, that is raised on a four-stepped square base of a different stone.

A plain cross shaft, rectangular in section and picked out with an incised outline to the front face, rises from the plinth to the wheel-head cross. This is of Celtic style and is decorated with an interlace design carved in low relief, with a central hemispherical boss at the centre of the cross arms. The cross is approximately 4 metres high.

The plinth carries the dates 1914 - 1918/ 1939 - 1945, which are incised into the stone. This is the only inscription on the memorial (the names of the fallen are recorded on two separate plaques within the church).

Sources

Websites
War Memorials Register, accessed 11 October 2017 from http://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/1489
Wateringbury Local History, accessed 11 October 2017 from https://sites.google.com/site/wateringburylocalhistory/topics/world-war-i/memorialshrineandmemorialcross1921
War Memorials Online, accessed 11 October 2017 from https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/121039/

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