Ravenstone War Memorial

Church of St Michael & All Angels, Church Lane, Ravenstone, Leicestershire, LE67 2AE

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. The memorial stands in the Ravenstone Conservation Area. Read the official list entry to find out more.

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1459189
Date first listed:: 01-Feb-2019
List Entry Name:: Ravenstone War Memorial
Statutory Address:: Church of St Michael & All Angels, Church Lane, Ravenstone, Leicestershire, LE67 2AE

User submitted image — Uploaded by Joanne Gould 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:: 1459189
Date first listed:: 01-Feb-2019
List Entry Name:: Ravenstone War Memorial
Statutory Address 1:: Church of St Michael & All Angels, Church Lane, Ravenstone, Leicestershire, LE67 2AE

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:: Church of St Michael & All Angels, Church Lane, Ravenstone, Leicestershire, LE67 2AE

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

County:: Leicestershire
District:: North West Leicestershire (District Authority)
Parish:: Ravenstone with Snibstone
National Grid Reference:: SK4019513899

Summary

First World War Memorial, 1920, with later additions for the Second World War. The memorial stands in the Ravenstone Conservation Area.

Reasons for Designation

Ravenstone War Memorial, situated in the Churchyard of St Michael and All Angels Church, 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 sacrifice it has made in the conflicts of the C20.

Architectural interest: * a well-executed floriated cross constructed from local materials; * designed and built by notable local architects Joseph Herbert Morcom and Thomas Henry Fosbrooke.

Group value: * with the Church of St Michael and All Angels (Grade II* listed) and the Hospital Precinct Walling Gate Piers and Gates (Grade II listed).

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 Ravenstone as a permanent testament to the sacrifice made by 28 servicemen from the local community who lost their lives in the First World War. Following the Second World War the names of five local servicemen who died in that conflict were added to the memorial.

The memorial was unveiled on the 24 October 1920 by Major Hatchett JP, and was dedicated by the Reverend S Dowling. The cost of the memorial was around £150. The memorial was designed by architect Thomas Henry Fosbrooke (1862-1925) and built by Joseph Herbert Morcom ARCA (1871-1942).

Thomas Henry Fosbrooke was the son of Leonard Fosbrooke of Ravenstone Hall. He worked with Waller King Bedingfield FRIBA (1870-1952) as part of the Fosbrooke and Bedingfield architectural practice from 1918. The practice designed the war memorial pylon on Market Street, Ashby de la Zouch (1922), (Grade II). They also designed the former Pfister & Vogal warehouse on Rutland Street, Leicester (1923), (Grade II).

Joseph Herbert Morcom ARCA (1871-1942) worked first for a local firm of stonemasons in Wales, later securing a position with Norbury, Paterson & Co of Liverpool. In the early 1890s he enrolled at Liverpool School of Architecture and Applied Art. By 1904 he was Assistant Modelling Master at the School and in 1910 was appointed Modelling Master at Leicester School of Art. Four years later he bought Pearson and Shipley, a firm of stonemasons and monumental sculptors, which he renamed The Plasmatic Company. Thereafter he continued to work for the company as well as sculpting independently and teaching at the Leicester School of Art. He was responsible for a number of other war memorials, including those at Quorn, Aylestone, Queniborough and Kirby Muxloe (all Grade II listed).

Details

A First World War memorial, unveiled 1920; altered after the Second World War. The memorial stands in the Ravenstone Conservation Area.

MATERIALS: Weldon Stone, Swithland Slate.

DESCRIPTION: Ravenstone War memorial is located in the churchyard of St Michael and All Angels Church, Ravenstone (Grade II* listed). It comprises a stylised floriated cross on a slender, tapering octagonal sectioned shaft standing on a square sectioned plinth. The plinth stands on a two-stepped square base.

The front of the memorial has been carved with the inscription IN/ GLORIOUS/ MEMORY OF THE/ UNRETURNING/ BRAVE/ 1914 1919 The other three faces of the plinth contain Swithland slate tablets with the names of the 28 fallen from the First World War.

The top step has been inset with Swithland slate commemorating the five names of those who fell in the Second World War on the upper surface of the step, and the inscription WE WILL REMEMBER THEM on the face of the step.

Sources

Websites
Aylestone War Memorial List Entry, accessed 03 August 2018 from https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1433210
Edgbaston War Memorial at St Augustine's Church List Entry, accessed 03 August 2018 from https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1430856
Leicestershire War Memorials Project, accessed 25 July 2018 from http://www.leicestershirewarmemorials.co.uk/war/memorials/view/952
War Memorial with attached Railings, Piers, Gate and Lamps List Entry, accessed 03 August 2018 from https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1073616
War Memorials Register, accessed 03 August 2018 from https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/37867

Legal

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