Lakenheath War Memorial

High Street, Junction with Mill Road, Lakenheath, Suffolk, IP27 9EW

Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places

Overview

First World War memorial with additions for later conflicts. Read the official list entry to find out more.

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1456856
Date first listed:: 07-Jun-2018
List Entry Name:: Lakenheath War Memorial
Statutory Address:: High Street, Junction with Mill Road, Lakenheath, Suffolk, IP27 9EW

The Missing Pieces Project

Share your view of unique places.

Add your contribution

Location

Location of this list entry and nearby places that are also listed. Use our map search to find more listed places.

This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale.

What is the National Heritage List for England?

The National Heritage List for England is a unique register of our country's most significant historic buildings and sites. The places on the list are protected by law and most are not open to the public.

The list includes:

🏠 Buildings
🏰 Scheduled monuments
🌳 Parks and gardens
⚔️ Battlefields
⚓ Shipwrecks

Find out more about listing

Historic England Archive

Search over 1 million photographs and drawings from the 1850s to the present day using our images archive.

Find Photos

Also of interest

Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1456856
Date first listed:: 07-Jun-2018
List Entry Name:: Lakenheath War Memorial
Statutory Address 1:: High Street, Junction with Mill Road, Lakenheath, Suffolk, IP27 9EW

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:: High Street, Junction with Mill Road, Lakenheath, Suffolk, IP27 9EW

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

County:: Suffolk
District:: West Suffolk (District Authority)
Parish:: Lakenheath
National Grid Reference:: TL7152682624

Summary

First World War memorial with additions for later conflicts.

Reasons for Designation

Lakenheath War Memorial, which is situated on the village green facing the High Street in Lakenheath, 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:

* as an elegant and well-proportioned tall Portland stone obelisk.

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

One such memorial was unveiled at Lakenheath on 27 March 1921 by Captain Owen A Clark 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 was built by Mr J Cracknell to commemorate 65 local servicemen who died during the First World War. Following the Second World War, a dedication was added to commemorate the 11 fallen of that conflict and one from Aden 1964.

In 2008 the memorial was repaired with the help of grant aid from War Memorials Trust. In 2015 a further grant was awarded for cleaning.

Details

First World War memorial, 1921, with additions for later conflicts.

MATERIALS: Portland stone.

DESCRIPTION: Lakenheath War Memorial is located on the village green near the pond facing the High Street in Lakenheath, Suffolk.

The memorial is a 6m high Portland limestone obelisk with inset band which stands on a square pedimented stone plinth supported by three tiered stone steps.

The incised inscription is located on the plinth with a later Second World War addition on the two steps. It is painted black and reads THIS MONUMENT/ HAS BEEN ERECTED BY THE PEOPLE OF/ LAKENHEATH/ IN HONOUR OF/ 65 GALLANT MEN OF THIS PARISH/ WHO LAID DOWN THEIR LIVES IN THE GREAT WAR OF/ 1914 – 1919/ AS A LASTING RECORD OF THEIR SACRIFICE/ AND IN GRATITUDE TO GOD/ FOR THE VICTORY ACHIEVED/ “THEIR NAME LIVETH FOR EVER MORE”/ ALSO IN GRATEFUL MEMORY OF THE MEN OF THIS PARISH/ WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES IN THE WORLD WAR 1939 – 1945/ “AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN, AND IN THE MORNING WE WILL REMEMBER THEM”. The other faces of the plinth and top step are incised with the names of the fallen including the name of one fallen serviceman from Aden 1964.

Sources

Websites
War Memorial Register, accessed 24 March 2017 from www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/4559
War Memorials Online, accessed 24 March 2017 from www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/node/118137
War Memorials Trust, accessed 24 March 2017 from www.warmemorials.org/search-grants/?gID=464
Other
‘Lakenheath War Memorial’, Bury Free Press, (2 April 1921), 12

Legal

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