Churchdown War Memorial

Church of St Andrew, Church Street, Churchdown, Gloucestershire, GL3 2JT

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Overview

First World War memorial, unveiled in 1921, with additional names added following later conflicts. Read the official list entry to find out more.

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1462083
Date first listed:: 28-Feb-2019
List Entry Name:: Churchdown War Memorial
Statutory Address:: Church of St Andrew, Church Street, Churchdown, Gloucestershire, GL3 2JT

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1462083
Date first listed:: 28-Feb-2019
List Entry Name:: Churchdown War Memorial
Statutory Address 1:: Church of St Andrew, Church Street, Churchdown, Gloucestershire, GL3 2JT

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 Andrew, Church Street, Churchdown, Gloucestershire, GL3 2JT

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

County:: Gloucestershire
District:: Tewkesbury (District Authority)
Parish:: Churchdown
National Grid Reference:: SO8833919821

Summary

First World War memorial, unveiled in 1921, with additional names added following later conflicts.

Reasons for Designation

Churchdown War Memorial in the churchyard of the Church of St Andrew 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 made in the conflicts of the C20.

Architectural interest:

* for its elegant design which includes good-quality carved detailing.

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 Churchdown, in the churchyard of the Church of St Andrew (unlisted), as a permanent testament to the sacrifice made by 28 members of the local community who lost their lives in the First World War. The memorial was unveiled on 3 August 1921 by Mr JH Jones and dedicated by the Reverend JJD Cooke. In 1932 the memorial was conserved with the help of the Churchdown Branch of the Royal British Legion. Further names of the fallen were added following the end of the Second World War and the Malayan Emergency.

Details

First World War memorial, unveiled in 1921, with additional names added following later conflicts.

MATERIALS: constructed of ashlar with bronze plaques.

DESCRIPTION: the memorial consists of a stone cross on a collared shaft. The cross head has a carved rose and oak leaf at its centre, while the base of the cross shaft has a carved wreath on each face. The shaft rises from a plinth on a three-stepped octagonal base.

Bronze plaques bearing the names of the fallen are fixed to the faces of the plinth. The north and south faces of base of the plinth have two carved square-leaf bosses. On the other faces of the plinth base is an inscription which reads, in a clockwise direction from the north-east: HAVE IN HONOUR/ ALL THOSE SONS/ OF CHURCHDOWN/ WHO WENT FORTH/ TO SERVE IN THE/ YEARS 1914-1918/ GREATER LOVE/ HATH NO MAN/ THAN THIS/ THAT HE LAY/ DOWN HIS LIFE/ FOR HIS FRIENDS.

A bronze plaque on the north-west face of the top step reads: 1939-1945, with the names of the fallen from that conflict recorded on bronze plaques on the north and west faces. A square bronze plaque on the north-west face of the middle step records the name of a serviceman who lost his life in the Malayan Emergency.

Sources

Websites
Imperial War Memorials Register: Churchdown War Memorial, accessed 14 December 2018 from http://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/34330
War Memorial Online database: Churchdown War Memorial, accessed 14 December 2018 from http://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/node/136570
Other
“Churchdown War Memorial”, Cheltenham Chronicle, (9 April 1921), p5
“Churchdown War Memorial”, Gloucester Citizen, (4 April 1921), p3
“Churchdown War Memorial”, Gloucestershire Echo, (2 April 1949), p2
“Churchdown War Memorial”, Gloucestershire Echo, (4 April 1921), p4
“Splendid Service”, Gloucester Citizen, (4 March 1921), p7
“To-morrow”, Gloucestershire Echo, (2 April 1921), p5

Legal

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