Swinford War Memorial
All Saint's Churchyard, Corner of High Street and Rugby Road, Swinford, Leicestershire, LE17 6BN
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1464664
- Date first listed:
- 05-Aug-2019
- List Entry Name:
- Swinford War Memorial
- Statutory Address:
- All Saint's Churchyard, Corner of High Street and Rugby Road, Swinford, Leicestershire, LE17 6BN
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Location
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1464664
- Date first listed:
- 05-Aug-2019
- List Entry Name:
- Swinford War Memorial
- Statutory Address 1:
- All Saint's Churchyard, Corner of High Street and Rugby Road, Swinford, Leicestershire, LE17 6BN
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:
- All Saint's Churchyard, Corner of High Street and Rugby Road, Swinford, Leicestershire, LE17 6BN
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- County:
- Leicestershire
- District:
- Harborough (District Authority)
- Parish:
- Swinford
- National Grid Reference:
- SP5696479403
Summary
First World War memorial, approximately 1920.
Reasons for Designation
Swinford 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:
* a pared-back wheel cross in pink granite which survives intact.
Group Value:
* with the Grade II* listed Church of All Saints and other listed buildings in the village centre.
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.
Swinford war memorial is situated within the parish churchyard, overlooking a main road junction in the heart of the village. The memorial is presumed to have been erected within a couple of years of the end of the war, and was designed by Pullen and Sons of Northampton. It commemorates eight local servicemen who fell in the First World War. The memorial was stabilized and the incised inscription re-gilded in 2010. At the same time, it was inscribed with the Second World War casualties’ names.
Details
First World War memorial, approximately 1920.
MATERIALS: constructed from polished pink granite.
DESCRIPTION: the memorial is located in the southeast corner of All Saints Churchyard. It comprises a wheel-head cross with a tapering shaft and plinth with single-stepped base. The plinth bears the inscriptions in incised and gilded lettering.
The inscription reads: ‘TO THE GLORY OF GOD / 1914-1918 / IN HONOURED MEMORY OF / THE MEN OF THIS PARISH WHO / LAID DOWN THEIR LIVES IN THE GREAT WAR’ followed by the names of the fallen, and ‘THEY DIED THAT WE MIGHT LIVE’. On the west face is the inscription ‘1939-1945’, followed by two names.
Sources
Websites
Swinford Memorial Cross, ref WMO207061, War Memorials Online, accessed 21 May 2019 from https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/207061/
Swinford - WWI and WWII cross, War memorials Register, Imperial War Museum, accessed 21 May 2019 from https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/69700
Memorial Cross, All Saints Churchyard - Swinford', Leicestershire War Memorials Project, accessed 25 July 2019 from http://www.leicestershirewarmemorials.co.uk/war/memorials/view/1115
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 11-Jun-2026 at 12:14:11.
Download a full scale map (PDF)End of official list entry
All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.