Walton on the Hill War Memorial

Summary

First World War memorial, 1920, designed by L Stanley Crosbie.

Reasons for Designation

The Walton on the Hill War Memorial, 1920, 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 and C21.

Architectural interest:

* a well-executed neo-classical cruciform design in Portland stone, which survives unaltered.

Group value:

* with the Grade II*-listed Church of St Peter.

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 at Walton on the Hill 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 stands in the churchyard of St Peter the Apostle. It was designed by L Stanley Crosbie, a local architect, and is presumed to have been paid for by public subscription, as was the common method of raising funds. The unveiling took place on Sunday, 30 May 1920, in what the Surrey Mirror notes was a ‘deeply impressive service’. The memorial commemorates the 35 local men who were killed in the First World War, and in common with many memorials, was added to following the Second World War, when a further 22 local men were lost. There is also a plaque dedicated to an officer soldier killed in Iraq in 2007.

Details

First World War memorial, 1920, designed by L Stanley Crosbie.

MATERIALS: constructed from Portland Stone with bronze plaques.

DESCRIPTION: the memorial is a cross surmounted on a fluted, tapering shaft with a moulded pedestal and a stepped octagonal base. The pedestal, which is square with notched angles, has plaques on its four sides. That on the north states ‘TO THE GLORY / OF GOD / AND / IN MEMORY OF / THE MEN OF THIS / PARISH WHO GAVE / THEIR LIVES IN / THE WORLD WARS / OF / 1914-1918 / AND / 1939-1945 / R.I.P’; beneath, on the apophyge, is a second plaque, inscribed ‘MAJOR PAUL H G HARDING / THE RIFLES IRAQ JUNE 2007’. On the other three sides of the pedestal are two plaques recording the names of the fallen from the First World War, and one with those from the Second World War.

Sources

Websites
Walton on the Hill Cross (ref WMO 188425), War Memorials Online, accessed 22/05/2018 from https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/188425/
‘St Peter the Apostle Memorial Cross’, Imperial War Museum War Memorial Register, accessed 22/05/2018 from https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/23800

Other
‘Walton War Memorial – Dedication Service’, Surrey Mirror, 04/06/1920, 8

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