Sprowston St Cuthbert War Memorial

Summary

A war memorial in the form of a curved-headed L-shaped wall into which are set plaques bearing the names of those who fell in the First and Second World Wars.

Reasons for Designation

Sprowston St Cuthbert War Memorial 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:

* as an L-shaped memorial wall made up of an eclectic mixture of local building materials, into which are set bronze commemorative panels and terra-cotta crosses, forming an appropriately sombre and respectful form of commemorative structure.

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: therefore the memorials provided the main focus of the grief felt at this great loss.

One such memorial was originally installed within the entrance to St Cuthbert’s Church in Sprowston, Norwich. This memorial, thought to date to 1919, was a temporary wooden structure to commemorate local servicemen who lost their lives in the First World War. A replacement memorial was erected on 2 October 1938 and unveiled by the Royal British Legion. It took the form of a stone pylon with a cross at its head to which a bronze plaque bearing the names of those commemorated was affixed.

This was replaced by the present memorial, which stands in the northern section of the approach drive to St Cuthbert’s Church. It is thought to have been constructed in the 1970’s, possibly at the same time as the new church centre completed in 1979, as the memorial’s form appears to replicate the detailing of the building’s curved walling. The memorial commemorates the 82 servicemen who fell in the First World War and the 48 who fell in Second World War.

Details

A memorial to the Fallen of the First and Second World Wars, thought to date to around 1979, the third such memorial, replacing an earlier memorial of 1938, itself a replacement of a temporary memorial of 1919 .

MATERIALS: the memorial is built of brick, with stone, flint and bronze elements and detailing.

DESCRIPTION: located in the entrance driveway of St Cuthbert’s Church at Sprowston in Norfolk. It takes the form of an L-shaped, asymmetrically–curved wall formed of rubble stone, brick, tile and flint standing on a red brick plinth. The main section of wall on the left-hand side has a curved eyebrow-like upper section, into which are set three brick-framed panels with cast bronze plaques. The wall has tile creasing at its head, supporting half-round red clay copings.

The tall central bronze plaque bears the names of those men who fell in the First World War, whilst the smaller flanking plaques record those who died in the Second World War. At the base of the central plaque, below the names, is an epitaph. On either side of the flanking plaques are small terracotta crosses, set into the walling. On the right-hand side of the memorial is a built-in seat, clasped by a low return section of the wall to its right.

The central panel inscription reads ‘1914-1918 /MEN/OF/SPROWSTON /(NAMES)’.
Each of the flanking plaque inscriptions read ‘1939-1945 (NAMES)’ The epitaph reads ‘WE WILL REMEMBER THEM’.

Sources

Other
War Memorials Online https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/214112 .

End of official list entry

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