Summary
First World War memorial designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield, unveiled 1919, with later additions.
Reasons for Designation
The war memorial in St Mary's churchyard, Rye is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
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. At a public meeting in Rye Town Hall on 30 December 1918 it was agreed that a permanent memorial to the fallen should be erected in St Mary’s churchyard. It was suggested that since the architect Sir Reginald Blomfield, who lived locally, had produced a design for a ‘Cross of Sacrifice’ for the Imperial War Graves Commission, this would be an appropriate design for Rye. At the same meeting it was agreed that a memorial cottage hospital, eventually also built to a design by Blomfield, would also be funded from the public subscription. This was demolished in 1991.
Details
First World War memorial designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield, unveiled 1919, with later additions.
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