Humberston War Memorial

St Peter's Churchyard, Church Lane, Humberston, Grimsby, DN36 4HU

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Overview

First World War memorial, 1919, with Second World War additions.The granite kerbstones surrounding the memorial are included in the listing but the two incense burners are excluded. Read the official list entry to find out more.

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1454985
Date first listed:: 27-Apr-2018
List Entry Name:: Humberston War Memorial
Statutory Address:: St Peter's Churchyard, Church Lane, Humberston, Grimsby, DN36 4HU

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1454985
Date first listed:: 27-Apr-2018
List Entry Name:: Humberston War Memorial
Statutory Address 1:: St Peter's Churchyard, Church Lane, Humberston, Grimsby, DN36 4HU

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, Church Lane, Humberston, Grimsby, DN36 4HU

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

District:: North East Lincolnshire (Unitary Authority)
Parish:: Humberston
National Grid Reference:: TA3108105285

Summary

First World War memorial, 1919, with Second World War additions.

The granite kerbstones surrounding the memorial are included in the listing but the two incense burners are excluded.

Reasons for Designation

Humberston War Memorial, erected in 1919, with Second World War additions, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Historic interest:

* as an eloquent witness to the tragic impacts of world events on this community, and the sacrifices it made in the conflicts of the C20.

Architectural interest:

* as an accomplished and well-realised war memorial which takes the form of a Celtic wheel-head cross atop a trapezoidal plinth.

Group value:

* with the neighbouring Church of St Peter (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 war 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 unveiled and dedicated at Humberston, Lincolnshire, on 14 May 1919 as a permanent testament to the sacrifice made by eight local servicemen.

After the Second World War the names of a further nine local servicemen who died in that conflict were added to the memorial.

Details

First World War memorial, 1919, with Second World War additions.

MATERIALS: of Norwegian granite.

DESCRIPTION: the memorial, which stands in the churchyard of the Church of St Peter (Grade II*-listed), takes the form of a Celtic wheel-head cross with a trapezoidal plinth, a single-step base and a tall, concrete pedestal. The west-facing arms of the cross are all sculpted with Celtic fretwork panels and all four sides of the pedestal have marble shields inscribed with lines from Laurence Binyon's poem 'For The Fallen' (west side), Rupert Brooke's poem 'The Dead' (east side) and biblical text (north and south sides).

The First World War dedication is inscribed on the plinth's west face and reads IN / LOVING MEMORY / OF THE / PARISHIONERS OF HUMBERSTON / WHO / GAVE THEIR LIVES / IN THE / GREAT WORLD WAR / FROM 1914 TO 1919. The names of three men who died in this conflict are inscribed on the base below. A marble shield on the pedestal reads PRO PATRIA / THEY SHALL NOT GROW OLD / AS WE / THAT ARE LEFT GROW OLD / AGE SHALL NOT WEARY THEM / NOR THE YEARS CONDEMN / AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN / AND IN THE MORNING/ WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

On the east side of the memorial, the plinth is inscribed THIS MONUMENT / WAS ERECTED BY / THE / PARISHIONERS OF HUMBERSTON / IN CONJUNCTION WITH / THE PARENTS AND FRIENDS / OF THE DEPARTED / THE PARISH WAR RECORDS ARE PRESERVED / IN A BOOK WHICH IS KEPT IN THE CHURCH. Below, the shield on the pedestal reads THESE LAID THE WORLD AWAY / POURED OUT THE RED/ SWEET WINE OF YOUTH / GAVE UP THE YEARS TO BE / OF WORK AND JOY / AND THAT UNHOPED SERENE / THAT MEN CALL AGE.

On the north and south sides of the memorial, the base is inscribed with the names of the remaining five men who died during the First World War, while the plinth is inscribed 1939-1945 along with the names of the nine local men who died during the Second World War. The shield on the pedestal's north face reads MORE THAN CONQUERORS / THROUGH / HIM THAT LOVED US (Romans 8:37) while that on its south face reads I DESIRE THAT YE FAINT NOT / AT MY / TRIBULATIONS FOR YOU. (Ephesians 3:13).

SUBSIDIARY FEATURES: the memorial stands in a small enclosure bounded by a Norwegian granite kerb placed on a concrete foundation. This feature is integral to the design of the memorial and is included in the listing. The two incense burners, which are of a later date, are excluded from the listing.

Sources

Websites
Information on Humberston War Memorial from Lincolnshire County Council's Lincs to the Past website, accessed 21 February 2018 from https://www.lincstothepast.com/MemorialDetails.aspx?objectid=1580245
Information on Humberston War Memorial from the Imperial War Museum's War Memorials Register, accessed 21 February 2018 from https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/53539
Information on Humberston War Memorial from the Roll of Honour website, accessed 21 February 2018 from http://www.roll-of-honour.com/Lincolnshire/Humberston.html

Legal

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

The listed building is shown coloured blue on the attached map. Pursuant to s1 (5A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 (‘the Act’), structures attached to or within the curtilage of the listed building (save those coloured blue on the map: a Celtic wheel-head cross with a trapezoidal plinth, a single-step base and a tall, concrete pedestal along with the surrounding kerbstones) are not to be treated as part of the listed building for the purposes of the Act.