Appleton Roebuck War Memorial

Summary

First World War memorial, 1921, with later additions for the Second World War.

Reasons for Designation

Appleton Roebuck War Memorial, which is situated in the churchyard of All Saints' Church, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Historic interest:

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

Architectural interest:

* an elegant and well-proportioned Portland stone cross decorated with a carved Celtic relief.

Group value:

* with the Grade II-listed All Saints' Church.

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 Appleton Roebuck as a permanent testament to the sacrifice made by the members of the local community who lost their lives in the First World War.

The proposal for erecting a memorial cross in the churchyard of the Appleton Roebuck All Saints' Church to honour the men of the parish who fell in the Great War, was first made in a faculty application of 17 June 1921 and permission for its construction was granted on 6 July 1921 by the Archbishop of York and the Consistory Court of York. George W Milburn and Son is credited for its design and John Henry is said to have been the sculptor of the memorial. Elder boys of the Appleton Roebuck School worked on the memorial site as mentioned in the school logbook 15 July 1921.

Details

First World War memorial, 1921, with Second World War additions.

DESCRIPTION: the memorial faces the main street and is set within an enclosure of yew and laurel hedges in the churchyard of the Grade-II listed All Saints' Church. A series of five steps leads to the base of the memorial. The memorial of Portland stone stands 2.5m high and the base measures 0.9m long and 0.8m wide. The wheel-cross, decorated with a Celtic design carved in shallow relief, surmounts a plain tapering shaft which stands on a one step Portland stone base. The plain block leaded, main inscription is on the western side of the plinth and reads IN/ GRATEFUL MEMORY/ OF/ JOSEPH BARNES 18TH HUSSARS / HENRY YATES CUNDALL R.C.A./ HARRY LORRIMAN K.O.Y.L.I./ AND ALL THEIR COMRADES WHO/ FELL IN THE GREAT WAR/ 1914 – 1918.

Below this, on the western face of the base stone is written REST ETERNAL GRANT UNTO THEM O LORD. Two further names are inscribed on the south side of the plinth and may be later additions, as well as the name of one serviceman who fell in the Second World War under the inscription 1939 – 1945. The names of each of the soldiers precedes the regiment they belonged to.

Sources

Websites
Appleton Roebuck War Memorial, accessed 6 December 2017 from http://www.appletonroebuckschool.org.uk
Appleton Roebuck War Memorial, accessed 6 December 2017 from http://www.yorkshireindexers.info/wiki/index.php?title=Appleton_Roebuck_War_Memorial
War Memorial Register, accessed 6 December 2017 from https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/30875
War Memorials Online, accessed 6 December 2017 from https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/253467/
Roll of Honour Appleton Roebuck, accessed 6 December 2017 from http://www.roll-of-honour.com/Yorkshire/AppletonRoebuck.html

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