Thurlestone War Memorial
Village Green, Eddystone Road, Thurlestone, Devon, TQ7 3NN
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1464182
- Date first listed:
- 29-May-2019
- List Entry Name:
- Thurlestone War Memorial
- Statutory Address:
- Village Green, Eddystone Road, Thurlestone, Devon, TQ7 3NN
Location
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1464182
- Date first listed:
- 29-May-2019
- List Entry Name:
- Thurlestone War Memorial
- Statutory Address 1:
- Village Green, Eddystone Road, Thurlestone, Devon, TQ7 3NN
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
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.
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
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.
Location
- Statutory Address:
- Village Green, Eddystone Road, Thurlestone, Devon, TQ7 3NN
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- County:
- Devon
- District:
- South Hams (District Authority)
- Parish:
- Thurlestone
- National Grid Reference:
- SX6732342810
Summary
War memorial cross, 1921.
Reasons for Designation
Thurleston War Memorial, 1921, 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:
* a well-executed and unaltered example of a Celtic wheel-cross type of memorial, designed by the local rector and based on a medieval cross.
Group value:
* with the Grade II*-listed Church of All Saints.
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: therefore the memorials provided the main focus of the grief felt at this great loss.
One such memorial was raised at Thurlestone as a permanent testament to the sacrifice made by the members of the local community who lost their lives in the First World War.
It was constructed by Messrs W Osborne and Sons of Sticklepath, Okehampton, to the design prepared by the rector, Reverend F E Coope, based on a C15 village cross at South Zeal (listed Grade II*, NHLE ref 1106010). The memorial was unveiled by General Alexander V C and dedicated by the rector, Reverend F E Coope, and the Wesleyan minister, Reverend S R Hicks, on Thursday 22 September 1921.
The names of those parishioners who fell during the Second World War were subsequently added to the memorial.
Details
War memorial cross, 1921.
MATERIALS: the memorial is constructed from grey granite.
PLAN: prominently positioned on the village green.
DESCRIPTION: the memorial comprises a plain Latin cross surmounted upon a tapering octagonal shaft on a square plinth, with a substantial four-stepped square base.
The main inscription in leaded lettering is on the north-east face of the plinth; it reads: ‘IN GRATEFUL MEMORY / OF / THE MEN OF THIS / PARISH WHO GAVE THEIR / LIVES FOR US DURING THE GREAT WAR / 1914 TO 1918’ followed by the 12 names of the fallen parishioners on the upper step of the base.
An additional inscription on the south-east face reads: ‘1939-1945’, followed by 11 names.
Sources
Websites
Thurlestone, ref 145957, War Memorials Online, accessed 18/04/2019 from https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/145957/
Thurlesstone, ref 25783, Imperial War Museum War Memorials Register, accessed 18/04/2019 from http://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/25783
Thurlestone War Memorial Cross (HER no MDV106623), Devon HER, accessed 24/05/2019 from https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?resourceID=104&uid=MDV106623
Other
Thurlestone Memorial, The Western Times, 18 November 1921, 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.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 07-Jun-2026 at 19:49:28.
Download a full scale map (PDF)End of official list entry
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