Beckermet War Memorial

Beckermet Cemetery, Junction of A595 and B5345, Beckermet, Cumbria, CA22 2NX

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

Overview

First World War memorial, 1920, with Second World War additions. Read the official list entry to find out more.

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1457600
Date first listed:: 22-Aug-2018
List Entry Name:: Beckermet War Memorial
Statutory Address:: Beckermet Cemetery, Junction of A595 and B5345, Beckermet, Cumbria, CA22 2NX

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.

Not all listed places are appearing on this map. We are investigating this issue and will have a fix in place as soon as we can. Updated: 13 February 2025.

There is a problem

Use of this mapping is subject to terms and conditions.

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

Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1457600
Date first listed:: 22-Aug-2018
List Entry Name:: Beckermet War Memorial
Statutory Address 1:: Beckermet Cemetery, Junction of A595 and B5345, Beckermet, Cumbria, CA22 2NX

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:: Beckermet Cemetery, Junction of A595 and B5345, Beckermet, Cumbria, CA22 2NX

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

District:: Cumberland (Unitary Authority)
Parish:: Beckermet
National Grid Reference:: NY0165208009

Summary

First World War memorial, 1920, with Second World War additions.

Reasons for Designation

Beckermet War Memorial, which is situated in Beckermet Cemetery, 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 a simple but well-executed granite cross.

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

Beckermet War Memorial was situated within the cemetery to the north of Beckermet itself. The memorial commemorates 15 local servicemen who fell in the First World War and 20 men who fell in the Second World War.

The memorial was designed and made by Mr Smith, monumental mason of Whitehaven, who also made the war memorial for Calderbridge in the same area (formerly two halves of the same parish). The memorial was unveiled on 29 August 1920, by Mr J R Atkinson, Chairman of Beckermet Parish Council.

Details

First World War memorial, 1920.

MATERIALS: pink-grey granite.

DESCRIPTION: Beckermet War Memorial is located in Beckermet Cemetery, at the junction of the A595 and B5345, Beckermet, Cumbria. It is prominently situated facing the road junction on a slightly raised mound. It comprises a polished wheel-head cross with splayed arms, on a tapering shaft, surmounting a rough-hewn square plinth with a polished face for inscriptions, on another rough-hewn square block below. The cross and plinth bear the inscriptions in incised and blacked lettering.

The inscription reads (cross head) IN/ LASTING MEMORY// (base of shaft) THE MEN OF/ ST JOHN’S PARISH/ AND/ BECKERMET VILLAGE// (plinth) WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES FOR THEIR COUNTRY/ IN THE GREAT WAR/ 1914 – 1918/ (NAMES)/ THEIR NAME LIVETH FOR EVERMORE/ ECCLUS.XLIV.14.

On the back is the later inscription ALSO THOSE WHO FELL IN THE WORLD WAR/ 1939 – 1945/ (NAMES).

Sources

Websites
The Second World War, ‘The ‘Fallen’ of St John (Beckermet), Cumbria’ , accessed 2 April 2018 from http://2ndww.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/the-fallen-of-st-john-beckermet-cumbria.html
War Memorial Register, accessed 2 April 2018 from http://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/13036
War Memorials Online, accessed 2 April 2018 from https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/168296/

Legal

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