Waverton War Memorial

St Peter's churchyard, Village Road, Waverton, Cheshire, CH3 7RA

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

Overview

First World War memorial cross, unveiled 1920, with later additions for the Second World War. Read the official list entry to find out more.

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1451836
Date first listed:: 05-Feb-2018
List Entry Name:: Waverton War Memorial
Statutory Address:: St Peter's churchyard, Village Road, Waverton, Cheshire, CH3 7RA

The Missing Pieces Project

Share your view of unique places.

Add your contribution

Location

Location of this list entry and nearby places that are also listed. Use our map search to find more listed places.

Not all listed places are appearing on this map. We are investigating this issue and will have a fix in place as soon as we can. Updated: 6 February 2025.

There is a problem

Use of this mapping is subject to terms and conditions.

This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale.

What is the National Heritage List for England?

The National Heritage List for England is a unique register of our country's most significant historic buildings and sites. The places on the list are protected by law and most are not open to the public.

The list includes:

🏠 Buildings
🏰 Scheduled monuments
🌳 Parks and gardens
⚔️ Battlefields
⚓ Shipwrecks

Find out more about listing

Historic England Archive

Search over 1 million photographs and drawings from the 1850s to the present day using our images archive.

Find Photos

Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1451836
Date first listed:: 05-Feb-2018
List Entry Name:: Waverton War Memorial
Statutory Address 1:: St Peter's churchyard, Village Road, Waverton, Cheshire, CH3 7RA

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, Village Road, Waverton, Cheshire, CH3 7RA

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

District:: Cheshire West and Chester (Unitary Authority)
Parish:: Waverton
National Grid Reference:: SJ4617263318

Summary

First World War memorial cross, unveiled 1920, with later additions for the Second World War.

Reasons for Designation

Waverton War Memorial, which stands in the 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 in the conflicts of the C20.

Architectural interest:

* a tall and imposing war memorial cross decorated with carved interlace patterns, in the Celtic style.

Group value:

* with the Church of St Peter (Grade II*) and the sundial in the churchyard and churchyard walls, gate piers and gates (all Grade II-listed).

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 Waverton as a permanent testament to the sacrifice made by 13 members of the local community who lost their lives in the First World War. The memorial was unveiled on 31 May 1920 by the Bishop of Chester. It had cost £110, raised by nearly 200 subscribers to the memorial fund. Following the Second World War the names of two men who died in that conflict were added to the memorial dedication.

Details

The memorial takes the form of a Celtic cross, located in the churchyard of the Church of St Peter (Grade II*) and in close proximity to churchyard structures listed at Grade II. The sandstone cross is about 4m tall. A three-stepped square base supports a square plinth. Rising from the plinth is a plain tapering cross shaft which is surmounted by the wheel-head cross. Both front and rear faces of the cross head are ornamented with a Celtic interlace pattern carved in low relief.

The principal dedicatory inscription incised into the east face of the memorial’s plinth reads ERECTED BY THE PARISHIONERS OF/ WAVERTON AND HATTON IN/ GRATEFUL MEMORY OF THESE MEN/ WHO DIED FOR THEIR COUNTRY/ 1914 + 1919/ (13 NAMES). The later inscription to the west face of the plinth reads ALSO/ IN GRATEFUL MEMORY OF/ THESE MEN/ WHO DIED FOR THEIR COUNTRY/ 1939 + 1945/ (2 NAMES).

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, 27 February 2018.

Sources

Books and journals
Wittle, J., Waverton: A History of its People and Places, (2002), pp64-5
Websites
War Memorials Online, accessed 27 February 2018 from https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/255076
War Memorials Register, accessed 24 October 2017 from http://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/9890
Other
The Cheshire Observer, Saturday, 3 April 1920

Legal

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