Donisthorpe War Memorial Gateway

Summary

A First World War memorial gateway, with Second World War additions.

Reasons for Designation

Donisthorpe Memorial Gateway is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural Interest:
* as a well-executed First World War memorial, with additions made after the Second World War, in the form of a wrought-iron gateway with a mounted overthrow, supported by brick piers.

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.

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.

Local commemoration in Donisthorpe initially took the form of a public recreation ground which was laid out on the south side of Church Street. It was opened on 17 April 1920 by Mr John Turner, High Sheriff of Leicestershire. In the ensuing years Donisthorpe War Memorial Committee held a series of local events to raise funds to erect a memorial gateway at the Church Street entrance to the playing field. A news report in the Nottingham Journal on 21 August 1922 records that the Committee, who having raised about £600 for the purchase of a recreation ground as a war memorial, organised the Donisthorpe Musical Festival and Allotment Holders’ Exhibition on 19 August 1922 with the aim of raising funds towards the £600 estimated cost for the installation of an entrance to the recreation ground. Fundraising efforts continued, with the gateway installed in 1930. A dedication and opening of the gates event was held on 26th April 1930, with a performance by a choir of children from the local schools.

Following the Second World War the names of the local men who died in that conflict were added to the memorial. In the late-C20 a new entrance to the recreation ground was created at the corner of Church Street and Ramscliff Avenue and the gateway is now permanently closed.

Photographs from the dedication of the gateway depict the supporting pillars as being constructed from large blocks of stone. It is thought that these were replaced at some point in the mid-late C20 with the current brick pillars.

Details

A First World War memorial gateway, with Second World War additions.

MATERIALS AND PLAN: the gateway is constructed of square red brick piers and wrought-iron gates, with smaller flanking wrought-iron supports. The adjoining brick walls do not form part of this listing.

DESCRIPTION: Donisthorpe War Memorial Gateway stands on the south side of Church Street.

The piers have deeply moulded caps surmounted by elaborate wrought-iron mountings supporting an overthrow with the inscription WHO DIES IF ENGLAND LIVES / IN MEMORIAM.

The First World War dedicatory inscription is inscribed on two bronze plaques fixed to each gate pier. The left-hand side plaque reads IN GRATEFUL MEMORY OF THE / MEN OF THIS PARISH / WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES FOR US / IN THE GREAT WAR 1914 - 1918 / "GREATER LOVE HATH NO MAN THAN THIS", while the right-hand side plaque reads IN GRATEFUL MEMORY OF THE / MEN OF THIS PARISH / WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES FOR US / IN THE GREAT WAR 1914 - 1918 / "THEY WERE AS A WALL UNTO US / BOTH BY DAY AND NIGHT" / "AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN/ AND IN THE MORNING WE WILL / REMEMBER THEM". Beneath each dedication are the names of the fallen who are listed alphabetically by rank.

Placed above each plaque are two smaller plaques which commemorate the local men who died in the Second World War. They both read IN MEMORY OF THOSE / OF THE PARISH WHO / GAVE THEIR LIVES IN / THE SECOND WORLD WAR / 1939 - 1945 / [NAMES] / RIP.

Sources

Websites
Leicestershire County Council War Memorials Project, accessed 24/07/2024 from http://www.leicestershirewarmemorials.co.uk/war/memorials/view/356

Other
Birmingham Daily Gazette, 19 April 1920, p3
Nottingham Journal, 21 August 1922, p3
Donisthorpe War Memorial Gateway Dedication Event, 26/04/1930
Leicestershire Record Office, ref DE8220, Correspondence between W G Cooper of Acresford, the Croft Granite, Brick & Concrete Co, and Bayliss Jones & Bayliss.

End of official list entry

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