Dersingham War Memorial

Dersingham Recreation Ground, Station Road, Dersingham, Norfolk, PE31 6YX

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

Overview

First World War memorial including stone obelisk and lions, and original railings, with Second World War additions. Read the official list entry to find out more.

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1452790
Date first listed:: 16-Jan-2018
List Entry Name:: Dersingham War Memorial
Statutory Address:: Dersingham Recreation Ground, Station Road, Dersingham, Norfolk, PE31 6YX

User submitted image — Uploaded by War Memorials Online This photo may not represent the current condition of the site
View all

Location

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

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:: 1452790
Date first listed:: 16-Jan-2018
List Entry Name:: Dersingham War Memorial
Statutory Address 1:: Dersingham Recreation Ground, Station Road, Dersingham, Norfolk, PE31 6YX

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:: Dersingham Recreation Ground, Station Road, Dersingham, Norfolk, PE31 6YX

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

County:: Norfolk
District:: King's Lynn and West Norfolk (District Authority)
Parish:: Dersingham
National Grid Reference:: TF6860730882

Summary

First World War memorial including stone obelisk and lions, and original railings, with Second World War additions.

Reasons for Designation

Dersingham War Memorial, which stands at the junction of Station Road and Hunstanton Road, 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 stone memorial obelisk on a substantial rusticated pier, incorporating two sculpted recumbent lions, within its original railed enclosure.

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.

By early 1923 one such memorial had been raised at Dersingham, as a permanent testament to the sacrifice made by 48 members of the local community who lost their lives in the First World War. The memorial also names all those who served. Following the Second World War the names of 19 men who died in that conflict were added to the memorial.

The Parish Council took responsibility for the memorial and its upkeep at a meeting in February 1923. The site was renovated in 2008.

Details

Dersingham War Memorial is located at the north-east corner of Dersingham Recreation Ground, at the junction of Station Road and Hunstanton Road. It is prominently situated facing the road, closely surrounded by a square of railings. The monument comprises a stone obelisk raised on a tall, rusticated, pier, square on plan. A stone wing projects from each of the two front-facing corners of the pier, whilst the base of the pier is stepped. The wings each support a sculpted recumbent lion.

The four sides of the pier carry the inscriptions in recent polished granite panels:

(front upper panel) FOR GOD/ AND/ HUMANITY and FOR KING/ AND/ COUNTRY flanking a wreath encircling a coat of arms carved in low relief with, below, R.I.P/ (48 NAMES)

(front lower panel) 1939 -1945/ (19 NAMES)

(right panel) ROLL OF HONOUR/ OVERSEA SERVICE/ (78 NAMES)/ HOME SERVICE/ (44 NAMES)

(left panel) ROLL OF HONOUR/ OVERSEA SERVICE/ (128 NAMES)

(rear panel) THIS MONUMENT IS ERECTED/ BY THE/ PEOPLE OF DERSINGHAM/ IN GRATEFUL MEMORY OF/ THOSE WHO LAID DOWN THEIR LIVES/ AND ALL/ WHO SERVED THEIR COUNTRY/ IN THE GREAT WAR/ 1914-1919.

Sources

Websites
War Memorials Online, accessed 27 November 2017 from https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/163800/
War Memorials Register, accessed 27 November 2017 from http://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/19868
Other
Thetford & Watton Times and People's Weekly Journal, Saturday 17 February 1923, p5

Legal

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