Shoeburyness War Memorial

Gunners Park, Campfield Road, Southend-on-Sea, Essex, SS3 9BX

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

Overview

First World War memorial, 1921, 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:: 1459808
Date first listed:: 01-Feb-2019
List Entry Name:: Shoeburyness War Memorial
Statutory Address:: Gunners Park, Campfield Road, Southend-on-Sea, Essex, SS3 9BX

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.

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:: 1459808
Date first listed:: 01-Feb-2019
List Entry Name:: Shoeburyness War Memorial
Statutory Address 1:: Gunners Park, Campfield Road, Southend-on-Sea, Essex, SS3 9BX

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:: Gunners Park, Campfield Road, Southend-on-Sea, Essex, SS3 9BX

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

District:: Southend-on-Sea (Unitary Authority)
Parish:: Non Civil Parish
National Grid Reference:: TQ9326184952

Summary

First World War memorial, 1921, with later additions for the Second World War.

Reasons for Designation

Shoeburyness War Memorial, which stands in Gunner Park off Campfield Road, 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 an elegant and striking Portland stone pillar.

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 Shoeburyness as a permanent testament to the sacrifice made by 85 members of the local community who lost their lives in the First World War.

Shoeburyness War Memorial was unveiled on 26 May 1921 by Colonel PL Holbrooke. The money for the memorial was raised by public donation. The memorial was originally located at the junction of Ness Road and Campfield Road, but the Ordnance Survey County Series for 1939 shows that by this time it had been relocated to its current position. The railings around the memorial are not original and likely date from after the memorial’s relocation.

Following the Second World War, the names of the fallen from that conflict were added to the memorial.

Details

First World War memorial, 1921, with later additions for the Second World War.

MATERIALS: Portland stone, marble, granite.

DESCRIPTION: the memorial is located in Gunner Park off Campfield Road. It takes the form of a Portland stone pillar surmounted by a pedimented collar with carved details and with a chamfered foot. The pillar rises from an octagonal plinth, the faces of which are inset with polished marble panels bearing incised gold-painted inscriptions, the whole set upon a square base.

The south-west face of the plinth bears the inscription TO THE GLORY OF GOD/ AND IN/ HONOURED MEMORY/ OF THE MEN OF/ SHOEBURYNESS/ WHO FELL IN THE/ GREAT WAR/ 1914 – 1919/ ALSO DURING/ 1939 – 1945. The names of the fallen from the First World War are recorded on the remaining faces of the plinth.

Inclined granite tablets are set at the foot of the memorial abutting each edge of the base. One abutting the south-west edge of the base reads SHOEBURYNESS RESIDENTS/ KILLED IN ACTION/ 1939 – 1945/ ROYAL AIR FORCE/ (19 NAMES)/ SUFFOLK REGT/ (1 NAME). A further 63 Second World War names are recorded on the three remaining granite tablets at the base of the memorial.

The memorial stands on an octagonal paved area with stone kerb surmounted by eight short stone bollards.

Sources

Websites
Shoeburyness War Memorial, accessed 11 October 2017 from www.daphnejohnson.co.uk/Shoeburyness/WarMemorial/warmemorial.htm
War Memorial Register, accessed 11 October 2017 from http://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/22796
War Memorials Online, accessed 11 October 2017 from http://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/node/101311
Other
“In a Few Lines”, Chelmsford Chronicle, (7 October 1921), p5
“Shoebury Memorial”, Chelmsford Chronicle, (3 June 1921), p2

Legal

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