Wistow War Memorial

Churchyard of All Saints Church, Church Hill, Wistow, Selby, YO8 3UU

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

Overview

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

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1459097
Date first listed:: 12-Sep-2018
List Entry Name:: Wistow War Memorial
Statutory Address:: Churchyard of All Saints Church, Church Hill, Wistow, Selby, YO8 3UU

User submitted image — Uploaded by Simon Wardell This photo may not represent the current condition of the site
View all

Location

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

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:: 1459097
Date first listed:: 12-Sep-2018
List Entry Name:: Wistow War Memorial
Statutory Address 1:: Churchyard of All Saints Church, Church Hill, Wistow, Selby, YO8 3UU

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:: Churchyard of All Saints Church, Church Hill, Wistow, Selby, YO8 3UU

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

District:: North Yorkshire (Unitary Authority)
Parish:: Wistow
National Grid Reference:: SE5923235634

Summary

First World War memorial, 1920, with later additions for the Second World War.

Reasons for Designation

Wistow War Memorial, which stands in the churchyard of the Church of All Saints, 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 elegant well-executed granite wheel-head cross.

Group value:

* with the Church of All Saints (Grade I).

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 Wistow 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 first mention of the Wistow memorial cross in honour of the men of the parish who fell in the First World War was in a notice dated 1 July 1920 announcing its erection, to the Registry of the Consistory court of York. On 27 July 1920 a faculty granting permission for its installation was issued. The memorial cross was unveiled on 7 November 1920 by Mrs Greeves, widow of the late vicar in the presence of Reverend Canon Bateman and Reverend Vincent Johnson and the ceremony was attended by churches of all denominations in the village. The memorial was completed at a cost of £150 by public donation. The design is said to have been inspired by another similar memorial at Wadsworth and Studwick and Lomas of Selby are credited for sculpting it.

The names of those who died in the Second World War were subsequently added to the memorial.

Details

First World War memorial, 1920, with later additions for the Second World War.

MATERIALS: granite.

DESCRIPTION: the memorial is located to the south in All Saints churchyard overlooking Church Hill and set within a rectangular area delineated by chamfered granite kerb stones. This measures 1.5m long and 0.8m wide and is filled with gravel.

The Celtic style wheel-head cross of grey granite with a tapering shaft surmounts a tapering plinth. The plinth is set on a two-stepped stone and concrete rectangular base. The memorial is approximately 3.3m in height. The southern faces of the shaft and base are smooth but the remaining faces of the memorial are rough-hewn.

The southern face of the shaft, the plinth and the base bear leaded lettering giving the dedication and names of the fallen. The main inscription on the shaft reads TO THE/ HONOUR OF/ THE MEN/ FROM WISTOW/ WHO FOUGHT/ FOR GOD, KING/ AND COUNTRY/ AND IN/ GRATEFUL/ MEMORY OF/ THOSE NAMED/ BELOW, WHO/ GAVE THEIR LIVES/ FOR US IN THE/ GREAT WARS. The southern side of the plinth bears eighteen names of the men who fell during the First World War, organised by year, along with abbreviations for the regiment to which they belonged.

Below this, leaded lettering on the base reads “THE MEMORY OF THEIR SACRIFICE IS DEAR TO US”/ 1939 – 1945/ followed by the nine names of those who fell in the Second World War organised in alphabetical order.

Sources

Websites
War Memorial Register, accessed 1 June 2018 from https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/30969
War Memorials Online, accessed June 2018 from https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/200923/
Other
Borthwick Institute of Archives (1933), Parish records of Wistow. WIS 21|9a, WIS 21|9b and WIS 81-2

Legal

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