Woodhouse Mill War Memorial

Retford Road, Woodhouse Mill, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, S13 9WF

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

Overview

War memorial commemorating the First World War and Second World War, 1922, designer unknown. Read the official list entry to find out more.

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1462460
Date first listed:: 27-Feb-2019
List Entry Name:: Woodhouse Mill War Memorial
Statutory Address:: Retford Road, Woodhouse Mill, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, S13 9WF

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1462460
Date first listed:: 27-Feb-2019
List Entry Name:: Woodhouse Mill War Memorial
Statutory Address 1:: Retford Road, Woodhouse Mill, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, S13 9WF

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:: Retford Road, Woodhouse Mill, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, S13 9WF

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

District:: Sheffield (Metropolitan Authority)
Parish:: Non Civil Parish
National Grid Reference:: SK4313785675

Summary

War memorial commemorating the First World War and Second World War, 1922, designer unknown.

Reasons for Designation

Woodhouse Mill War Memorial commemorating the First World War and Second World War, 1922, designer unknown, 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 made in the First World War and the Second World War.

Architectural interest: * a dignified Latin cross of stone with an incised long sword on a high, stepped, square base and plinth, providing a fitting tribute to the lives lost.

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, both as a result of the huge impact the loss of three quarters of a million British lives had on communities and 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 war memorial was raised at Woodhouse Mill as a permanent testament to the sacrifice made by members of the local community who lost their lives in the First World War.

Woodhouse Mill War Memorial was unveiled and dedicated by the Bishop of Sheffield on 17 April 1922. It commemorated 39 local men who lost their lives in the First World War. The 1:2,500 Ordnance Survey map shows that the memorial was originally located on the west corner of Retford Road and Furnace Lane. Between 1956 and 1969 it was relocated after changes to the road junction to its current position further west along Retford Road in the grounds of a Mission Church.

Following the Second World War the names of nine casualties from that conflict were added to the memorial.

Details

War memorial commemorating the First World War and Second World War, 1922, designer unknown.

MATERIALS: stone.

PLAN: a cross set on a square, stepped base standing on a stepped plinth.

DESCRIPTION: the war memorial is set at an angle on the south side of Retford Road adjacent to the former Mission Church. It takes the form of a stone Latin cross with an incised sword carved into the front, north-east face. The base of the shaft is ramped and is inscribed 1939-1945 with nine surnames with initials below. The cross stands on a deep, stepped, stone base with chamfered corners. The upper base block is inscribed TO THE GLORY OF GOD / AND IN PROUD MEMORY / OF THE MEN OF / WOODHOUSE MILL / FENCE & JUNCTION ROAD / WHO LAID DOWN THEIR / LIVES IN THE GREAT WAR / 1914 – 1918. The larger base block has 39 surnames with initials with the inscription beneath “THEY SLEEP WITH ENGLAND’S HEROES / IN THE WATCHFUL CARE OF GOD”. The top step of the plinth below is inscribed AND IN GRATEFUL REMEMBRANCE OF THOSE WHO / SHARED ITS DANGERS. It stands on a wider plinth step set on a narrower, but deeper stone block. The memorial stands on a square, concrete base.

Sources

Websites
Imperial War Museum War Memorials Register: Woodhouse Mill WW1 Memorial Cross, reference 27692, accessed 15/01/2019 from https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/27692
War Memorials Online: Woodhouse Mill War Memorial, reference 148298, accessed 15/01/2019 from https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/148298
Woodhouse Mill Memorial, Sheffield Daily Telegraph, 18 April 1922, p3., accessed 15/01/2019 from https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000250/19220418/083/0003

Legal

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