Thorney War Memorial

Church of St Helen, Main Street, Thorney, Newark, Nottinghamshire

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

Overview

First World War memorial gates, erected around 1920. Read the official list entry to find out more.

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1462827
Date first listed:: 30-May-2019
List Entry Name:: Thorney War Memorial
Statutory Address:: Church of St Helen, Main Street, Thorney, Newark, Nottinghamshire

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1462827
Date first listed:: 30-May-2019
List Entry Name:: Thorney War Memorial
Statutory Address 1:: Church of St Helen, Main Street, Thorney, Newark, Nottinghamshire

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 Helen, Main Street, Thorney, Newark, Nottinghamshire

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

County:: Nottinghamshire
District:: Newark and Sherwood (District Authority)
Parish:: Thorney
National Grid Reference:: SK8589472840

Summary

First World War memorial gates, erected around 1920.

Reasons for Designation

Thorney War Memorial, unveiled and dedicated around 1920, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Historic interest:

* as an eloquent witness to the tragic impacts of world events on this community, and the sacrifice it made in the First World War.

Architectural interest:

* as an accomplished and well-realised war memorial which takes the form of a pair of iron gates and stone piers.

Group value:

* with the Church of St Helen (listed Grade II*) and the ruins of the old church in the churchyard, the house at Thorney Hall and the cottage at Thorney Hall, all 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: therefore the memorials provided the main focus of the grief felt at this great loss.

One such memorial, which took the form of a pedestrian gate, was raised in the Nottinghamshire village of Thorney, at the entrance to the Church of St Helen (listed Grade II*), as a permanent testament to the sacrifice made by the eight men of the parish who lost their lives during the conflict.

Details

First World War memorial gates, erected around 1920.

MATERIALS: iron gates with stone gate piers.

DESCRIPTION: the memorial takes the form of a pedestrian gate which stands at the entrance to the footpath leading to the west door of the Church of St Helen (listed Grade II*).

It comprises a pair of iron gates with spearhead railings with decorative scrollwork subdivided by a horizontal band of elongated ovals below which are twisted dog-rails. The gates have a concave top rail and a shallow panel with pierced quatrefoil motifs and a pierced dedicatory inscription which reads 'IN MEMORIAM (left-hand gate) / 1914 - 1918' (right-hand gate). The gates stand between piers of coursed random rubble with shallow pyramidal caps. Set within the walling of each pier is a sandstone plaque inscribed with the eight names (four on each plaque) of the fallen.

Sources

Websites
Information on Thorney War Memorial from the Imperial War Museum's War Memorials Register, accessed 31 January 2019 from https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/27090
Other
Information on Thorney War Memorial Gates from Nottinghamshire County Council's Historic Environment Record: HER Number M18783 - MNT26433, Thorney War Memorial

Legal

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