Summary
A First World War memorial, constructed in about 1922.
Reasons for Designation
The war memorial at the Church of St Andrew in Moretonhampstead 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 church’s community, and the sacrifice it made in the First World War.
Architectural interest:
* for its design, a well-executed stone memorial.
Group value:
* with the Grade-I listed Church of St Andrew, in whose churchyard it stands, and the associated listed chest tombs and headstones, with which it forms part of a memorial landscape.
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 750,000 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 the Church of St Andrew in Moretonhampstead, as a permanent testament to the sacrifice made by the members of the congregation, and those associated with it, who lost their lives in the First World War.
The war memorial was constructed in about 1922; a meeting in September of that year, involving the rector, churchwardens and Parochial Church Council, resolved that those members of the congregation and those associated with the church who had lost their lives during the war should be commemorated by the erection of a war memorial in the form of a cross, the addition of a tablet in the church, and the repair of the belfry and bells. At that point, £740 had been raised in subscriptions towards the cost, and the need for a further £400 was anticipated.
Details
A First World War memorial, constructed in about 1922.
MATERIALS: Granite.
DESCRIPTION: The memorial takes the form of a Latin cross set on a tapering, square-section plinth, which stands on a two-stepped platform. The front face of the plinth is inscribed: A SYMBOL OF VICTORY / AND A MEMORIAL OF THE MEN / OF MORETONHAMPSTEAD / WHO FELL IN THE GREAT WAR / 1914 – 1918 / "THEIR NAME LIVETH FOR EVERMORE".
