Knowsley War Memorial

May Pole Green, Knowsley, L34 9BD

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Overview

First World War memorial, 1920, by Thomas Wickford Potter, with Second World War additions. Read the official list entry to find out more.

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1463967
Date first listed:: 12-Jun-2019
List Entry Name:: Knowsley War Memorial
Statutory Address:: May Pole Green, Knowsley, L34 9BD

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1463967
Date first listed:: 12-Jun-2019
List Entry Name:: Knowsley War Memorial
Location Description:: Set on a triangular piece of ground over-looked by the Village Hall, May Pole Farm and the Millbrook Manor and Knowsley Arms (former Knowsley Church of England Primary School).
Statutory Address 1:: May Pole Green, Knowsley, L34 9BD

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:: May Pole Green, Knowsley, L34 9BD

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

District:: Knowsley (Metropolitan Authority)
Parish:: Knowsley
National Grid Reference:: SJ4343795953

Summary

First World War memorial, 1920, by Thomas Wickford Potter, with Second World War additions.

Reasons for Designation

Knowsley War Memorial, erected 1920, 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 two World Wars.

Architectural interest:

* a well-executed memorial employing good quality materials and craftsmanship.

Group Value:

* the memorial benefits from a functional and spatial group value with the Grade II* listed Church of St Mary.

History

Knowsley War Memorial was designed by Thomas Wickford Potter, the surveyor of the Knowsley Estate, and was erected during March 1920 on a triangular piece of land known as May Pole Green, at the historic centre of the village. The front of the memorial was deliberately aligned to face the lych-gate leading to the Church of St Mary, to remind the congregation as they came out from church, of the sacrifice of the Fallen. The 30 names of the Fallen were not inscribed on the memorial, but were recorded on a brass memorial plaque installed inside the church. The plaque was unveiled on Palm Sunday, 28 March 1920, by Lady Derby, during a dedicatory service led by the vicar Reverend H Dams, with the lessons and the sermon given by the Bishop of Warrington. The church was filled to over-flowing and following the service, the choir, clergy, dignitaries, and the families of the Fallen formed a procession and were followed by the remainder of the congregation to the village green, where Lord Stanley unveiled the memorial. The proceedings were drawn to a close by the Bishop giving a blessing and Sergeant Richard Hughes of the Royal Army Service Corps sounding the Last Post.

Following the Second World War, a brass plaque recording the eight Fallen of that conflict was placed in the church, and the inscription on the monument was altered to acknowledge that conflict.

Details

First World War memorial, 1920, by Thomas Wickford Potter, with Second World War additions.

MATERIALS: Portland stone ashlar cross and pink-coloured stone-set surround

DESCRIPTION: a Latin cross with the main elevation facing to the south-east. The sides of the cross are gently canted, it has hollowed semi-circular intersections and the central roundel contains a Lancaster rose carved in relief. All elevations have panels formed by narrow incised lines. The cross is raised on a square battered plinth, with rounded upper surfaces and a rebated tablet set within its south-east elevation, which has gilded incised lettering that reads: IN GRATEFUL REMEMBRANCE/ OF/ THE MEN OF THIS PARISH/ WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES/ FOR THEIR COUNTRY/ IN THE/ GREAT WAR/ 1914-1918/ AND WORLD WAR 1939-1945. The plinth rises off a base formed by two stone steps, on a square-plan stone-set surround.

Sources

Books and journals
Cox, H (Author), Crockford's Clerical Directory, (1908)
Farragher, A R (author), The History of the Borough of Knowsley, (undated), 37
Pevsner, N, Pollard, R, The Buildings of England: Lancashire, Liverpool and the South-West, (2006), 224
Websites
Imperial War Museum War Memorials Register - Knowsley Village Memorial Cross, accessed 4 April 2019 from https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/15161
Knowsley Parish Church War Memorial, accessed 4 April 2019 from http://www.knowsleychurch.co.uk/page6.html
War Memorials Online - Knowsley Village Memorial Cross, accessed 4 April 2019 from https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/183278/
Other
Liverpool Echo, 29 March 1920, Page 7, column 5, Knowsley War Memorial
The Prescot Reporter and Hyton-with-Roby, Rainhill and District Observer, 2 April 1920, page 4, columns 6 and 7

Legal

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