Cockshutt War Memorial

Summary

War memorial cross, 1920.

Reasons for Designation

Cockshutt War Memorial, 1920, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Historic interest:

* 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:

* a well-executed and unaltered example of a Celtic wheel-cross type of memorial.

Group value:

* with the Grade II-listed Church of SS Simon and Jude.

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 the official policy of not repatriating the dead; memorials, therefore, provided the main focus of the grief felt at this great loss.

One such memorial was raised at Cockshutt as a permanent testament to the sacrifice made by the members of the local community who lost their lives in the First World War.

The memorial was dedicated on Christmas Day, 1920, in a ceremony attended by the Archdeacon of Salop. The names of those seven parishioners who fell during the Second World War were subsequently added to the memorial. Within the church is a handwritten, illuminated Roll of Honour scroll, and an organ, which is also a memorial to the men who died in the Second World War.

Details

War memorial cross, 1920.

MATERIALS: constructed from Cornish grey granite.

PLAN: the memorial stands within the churchyard of SS Simon and Jude. It is near the boundary with Shrewsbury Road, 30m to the south of the church.

DESCRIPTION: the memorial consists of a Celtic wheel cross with a tapering rectangular shaft, standing upon two-stepped square base with chamfered corners, and a two-stepped square plinth. The head of the cross has relief moulded knot-work in the arms, with a domed circular centre.

The main inscription, in applied lettering, reads ‘WHO DIES IF / ENGLAND LIVES / TO / THE GLORIOUS / MEMORY OF THE / MEN OF THIS / PARISH WHO LAID / DOWN THEIR LIVES / IN A / RIGHTEOUS WAR / 1914-1918’ followed by the 15 names of the fallen soldiers.

There is a polished granite table at the base of the memorial bearing an inscription ‘IN MEMORIAM / 1939-1945’, followed by the seven names of the fallen soldiers of the Second World War, and ‘GREATER LOVE HATH NO MAN THAN / THIS THAT A MAN LAY DOWN HIS LIFE / FOR HIS FRIENDS’.

Sources

Websites
Shropshire HER, SS Simon and Jude, Cockshutt War Memorial ref 31328, accessed 18/04/2019 from https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=MSA34170&resourceID=1015
Roll of Honour, Cockshutt War Memorial, accessed 18/04/2019 from http://www.roll-of-honour.com/Shropshire/Cockshutt.html
War Memorials Online, Cockshutt War Memorial ref WMO255177, accessed 18/04/2019 from https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/255177/
Imperial War Museums War Memorials Register: Cockshutt, accessed 18/04/2019 from https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/37925

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