Bonchurch War Memorial

St Boniface Church, Bonchurch Shute, Bonchurch, Ventnor, Isle of Wight, PO38 1RG

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Overview

Bonchurch War Memorial, a First World War memorial of 1920, designed by Herbert Bryant, standing outside the new Church of St Boniface, with added dates and names relating to the Second World War. Read the official list entry to find out more.

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1463237
Date first listed:: 07-May-2019
List Entry Name:: Bonchurch War Memorial
Statutory Address:: St Boniface Church, Bonchurch Shute, Bonchurch, Ventnor, Isle of Wight, PO38 1RG

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1463237
Date first listed:: 07-May-2019
List Entry Name:: Bonchurch War Memorial
Statutory Address 1:: St Boniface Church, Bonchurch Shute, Bonchurch, Ventnor, Isle of Wight, PO38 1RG

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:: St Boniface Church, Bonchurch Shute, Bonchurch, Ventnor, Isle of Wight, PO38 1RG

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

District:: Isle of Wight (Unitary Authority)
Parish:: Ventnor
National Grid Reference:: SZ5767978127

Summary

Bonchurch War Memorial, a First World War memorial of 1920, designed by Herbert Bryant, standing outside the new Church of St Boniface, with added dates and names relating to the Second World War.

Reasons for Designation

Bonchurch War Memorial 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 it made in the conflicts of the C20.

Architectural interest:

* for its modest yet robust design, combining a Celtic cross with a sword carved in relief recalling the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s Cross of Sacrifice.

Group value:

* with the Grade II-listed church of St Boniface of 1847-1848, together with the Leeson family mausoleum of 1864 in Egyptian style, and the Swinburne family tombs, also listed at Grade II; East Dene, a Grade II*-listed house of 1825-1830, and Algernon Swinburne’s childhood home, stands to the east, with its lodge of 1854, and the old school and school house of about 1840-1850 are to the south.

History

Bonchurch War Memorial was dedicated in April 1920 by the Rural Dean of East Wight, having been completed the previous month. It was designed by Mr Herbert Bryant and built by Messrs Garret and Haysom of Southampton. The memorial commemorates 18 servicemen of the community who gave their lives in the First World War. At the same time, a commemorative pulpit was dedicated in the new Church of St Boniface, within the churchyard of which the memorial stands; a tablet placed within the church notes that one of the dead, George Henry Russell, was a member of the church choir for 26 years. Further dates and the names of four men lost in the Second World War were added in 1950.

The new Church of St Boniface was built in 1847-1848 to designs by Benjamin Ferrey, replacing the old church of the same dedication which remains about 150 metres to the south-east.

Details

First World War memorial, 1920, designed by Herbert Bryant. The memorial, which takes the form of a Celtic cross, stands at the east side of the churchyard of St Boniface, near the entrance gates. Inscriptions have been added relating to the Second World War.

MATERIALS: granite with lead lettering.

DESCRIPTION: a rough-hewn granite wheel cross with a Sword of Sacrifice carved in relief on its front face, rising from a similarly rough-hewn tapered plinth on a square base. A recessed panel on the front of the plinth bears the inscription in sans-serif lettering, ‘TO THE MEMORY/ OF THE MEN OF BONCHURCH/ WHO FELL IN THE GREAT WAR/ 1914-1919’ with the names of the fallen below. The side of the plinth carries the additional inscription, ‘1939-45’, followed by the names of those lost during that conflict.

Sources

Websites
Imperial War Museum Register of War Memorials, accessed 21 February 2019 from https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/21716
Isle of Wight Memorials website, accessed 21 February 2019 from http://www.isle-of-wight-memorials.org.uk/towns/bonchurch.htm
War Memorials Online, accessed 21 February 2019 from https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/251738/
Other
‘Bonchurch’, Portsmouth Evening News, (20th March 1920), p6

Legal

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