Arden Family War Memorial
Church of St Peter, Main Street, Yoxall, Staffordshire, DE13 8NF
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1462193
- Date first listed:
- 05-Jun-2019
- List Entry Name:
- Arden Family War Memorial
- Statutory Address:
- Church of St Peter, Main Street, Yoxall, Staffordshire, DE13 8NF
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Location
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1462193
- Date first listed:
- 05-Jun-2019
- List Entry Name:
- Arden Family War Memorial
- Statutory Address 1:
- Church of St Peter, Main Street, Yoxall, Staffordshire, DE13 8NF
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
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.
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
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.
Location
- Statutory Address:
- Church of St Peter, Main Street, Yoxall, Staffordshire, DE13 8NF
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- County:
- Staffordshire
- District:
- East Staffordshire (District Authority)
- Parish:
- Yoxall
- National Grid Reference:
- SK1419319087
Summary
A sandstone memorial to the Arden family.
Reasons for Designation
The Arden Family Memorial at Yoxall is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
Historic interest:
* it is an eloquent witness to the tragic impact of world events on the local community, and the sacrifice made by the Arden family in the First World War.
Architectural interest:
* it is a well-constructed war memorial with a well-detailed Calvary Cross.
Group value:
* it has group value with the Church of St Peter (Grade II*) and a number of other buildings at Grade II.
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. One such memorial was raised at Yoxall, at an unknown date, as a permanent testament to the sacrifice made by Humphrey Arden. Little is known about the war memorial, however it was built at the direction of Reverend William Henry Percival Arden and his wife Emily in memory of their son Humphrey W Arden who died at Messines on 6 June 1917 and was buried at Bailleul, France. His parents later had their ashes interred below the memorial in the late 1950s. The memorial is shown on the Ordnance Survey Map of 1975.
In 2016 the memorial was conserved with the help of grant funding administered by War Memorials Trust.
Details
A war memorial of unknown date.
MATERIALS: constructed of sandstone.
DESCRIPTION: the memorial takes the form of a Calvary cross on a chamfered shaft surmounting a moulded plinth on a two-stepped base. A stone tablet is set into the east face of the plinth and bears a metal roundel with a coat of arms, underneath which is the incised inscription: IN THANKSGIVING TO ALMIGHTY GOD/ FOR THE/ BEAUTIFUL LIFE AND GLORIOUS DEATH/ OF HUMPHREY WARWICK ARDEN BA CANTAB/ FO, ORCA/ KILLED AT MESSINES JUNE 6 1917 AGED 25/ LAID TO REST AT BAILLEUL FRANCE/ SED MILES SED PRO PATRIA/ RIP.
A stone tablet set into the south face of the plinth reads BELOW LIE THE ASHES OF/ WILLIAM HENRY PERCIVAL ARDEN PRIEST/ (YOUNGEST SON OF/ GEORGE PINKARD ARDEN/ OF LONGCROFT HALL)/ WHO DIED 23 FEBRUARY 1956 AGED 93/ ALSO THE ASHES OF HIS WIFE/ EMILY BEATRICE/ (YOUNGEST DAUGHTER OF THE REV JD LOWE/ SOMETIME RECTOR OF YOXALL)/ WHO DIED 23 MARCH 1956 AGED 88/ THEY ERECTED THIS CALVARY IN MEMORY/ OF THEIR ONLY SURVIVING CHILD/ HUMPHREY WARWICK ARDEN.
A tablet set into the west face of the plinth bears a metal roundel, underneath which is the incised inscription SON AND ONLY SURVIVING CHILD/ OF THE REV/ WILLIAM HENRY PERCIVAL ARDEN/ AND EMILY BEATRICE HIS WIFE/ GRANDSON OF GP ARDEN ESQ/ OF LONGCROFT HALL/ AND OF THE REV JB LOWE DD/ SOMETIME RECTOR OF THIS PARISH.
Sources
Websites
War Memorials Online - Arden Family, accessed 29 January 2019 from https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/201069
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 06-Jun-2026 at 11:18:53.
Download a full scale map (PDF)End of official list entry
All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.