War Memorial, Church of St John, Redhill

Summary

A churchyard war memorial which was unveiled in May 1920 and was designed by Frank Loughborough Pearson. The memorial is placed close to the eastern end of the Church of St John, Redhill, Surrey.

Reasons for Designation

The war memorial to the east of the Church of St John, Redhill 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 accomplished and well-realised war memorial, which takes the form of a Northampton stone shaft with base and lantern head.

Group value:

* with the Church of St John, Redhill (Grade II*), in which churchyard it stands to the east of the 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: therefore the memorials provided the main focus of the grief felt at this great loss. One such memorial was raised to the east of the Church of St John, Redhill 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 memorial at the Church of St John, Redhill was designed in 1919 by Frank Loughborough Pearson. Unveiled in May 1920, it was altered after 1945. The church of St John had been largely rebuilt by Pearson's father, John Loughborough Pearson between 1889 and 1895. Frank Pearson added the vestry in 1899, immediately behind the war memorial.

Details

A churchyard war memorial which was unveiled in May 1920 and was designed by Frank Loughborough Pearson. The memorial is placed close to the eastern end of the Church of St John, Redhill, Surrey.

MATERIALS & PLAN: carved Northampton stone monument with a plinth, base and shaft supporting a lantern head.

DESCRIPTION: the monument has a plinth of two steps, above which is the tapered base which is square on plan. This is inscribed on its eastern face with the words: ‘IN MEMORY OF / THOSE OF THIS PARISH / AND CONGREGATION / WHO FELL IN THE GREAT WAR / 1914 – 1918 / THEIR NAME LIVETH / FOR EVERMORE’. Below is inscribed ‘AND IN MEMORY OF THOSE / WHO FELL IN THE SECOND WORLD WAR / 1939 – 1945’. This supports an octagonal tapered shaft, each side of which is shallowly fluted. The lantern is square and rests on the shaft head which has carved foliage. There is a niche to each of the four sides with cusped heads and colonettes. Statues within the niches are of the patron saints of the United Kingdom’s member countries, St George, St David, St Andrew and St Patrick. The circular cap has a cluster of colonettes which support the conical cap and knop finial.

Sources

Books and journals
Pevsner, N, Nairn, I, Cherry, B, The Buildings of England: Surrey, (1982), 421-422

Websites
Imperial War Museum Register of War Memorials, accessed 24/04/2018 from https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/65333

Other
London Metropolitan Archive Diocese of Southwark, faculty DS/FO/1923/64/1.

End of official list entry

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