Congerstone war memorial

Memorial Green, Junction of Main Street and Barton Road, Congerstone, Leicestershire

Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places

Overview

A First World War memorial, erected in 1922; further names added after the Second World War. Read the official list entry to find out more.

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1464887
Date first listed:: 04-Jul-2019
List Entry Name:: Congerstone war memorial
Statutory Address:: Memorial Green, Junction of Main Street and Barton Road, Congerstone, Leicestershire

The Missing Pieces Project

Share your view of unique places.

Add your contribution

Location

Location of this list entry and nearby places that are also listed. Use our map search to find more listed places.

There is a problem

Use of this mapping is subject to terms and conditions.

This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale.

What is the National Heritage List for England?

The National Heritage List for England is a unique register of our country's most significant historic buildings and sites. The places on the list are protected by law and most are not open to the public.

The list includes:

🏠 Buildings
🏰 Scheduled monuments
🌳 Parks and gardens
⚔️ Battlefields
⚓ Shipwrecks

Find out more about listing

Historic England Archive

Search over 1 million photographs and drawings from the 1850s to the present day using our images archive.

Find Photos

Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1464887
Date first listed:: 04-Jul-2019
List Entry Name:: Congerstone war memorial
Statutory Address 1:: Memorial Green, Junction of Main Street and Barton Road, Congerstone, Leicestershire

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:: Memorial Green, Junction of Main Street and Barton Road, Congerstone, Leicestershire

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

County:: Leicestershire
District:: Hinckley and Bosworth (District Authority)
Parish:: Shackerstone
National Grid Reference:: SK3682205447

Summary

A First World War memorial, erected in 1922; further names added after the Second World War.

Reasons for Designation

The war memorial in Congerstone 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 church’s community, and the sacrifice it made in the conflicts of the C20.

Architectural interest:

* for its design, a dignified cross with carved interlace details.

Group value:

* with the Grade–II listed K6 telephone kiosk with which it shares its prominent location on the green at the centre of the village.

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 also 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 Congerstone as a permanent testament to the sacrifice made by the seven members of the local community of Congerstone, Gopsall and Bilstone who lost their lives in the First World War. It was altered after the Second World War to include the names of three servicemen who died in that conflict. Unusually, the memorial records in its inscriptions the details of its unveiling. The ceremony was held on 9 December 1922, and the memorial was unveiled by Rt Hon Lord Waring, and dedicated by Rev TW Walters, Rural Dean, and Rev Adrian Rollaston.

The memorial underwent cleaning in 2012.

Details

A First World War memorial, erected in 1922; further names added after the Second World War.

MATERIALS Stone.

DESCRIPTION The memorial takes the form of a c.3m stone cross with short arms, having Celtic interlace carving to the face of the cross and upper part of the tapering four-sided shaft, which surmounts a simple, slightly tapering plinth and single-stepped platform. The shaft bears the dedication and the plinth bears the rest of the inscriptions, in incised lettering.

The inscription is incised and picked out in black lettering and reads: ERECTED/ BY THE/ PARISHIONERS/ OF/ CONGERSTONE/ GOPSALL/ AND/ BILSTONE/ IN LOVING/ AND GRATEFUL/ MEMORY OF/ THOSE MEN/ WHO GAVE/ THEIR LIVES/ FOR KING/ AND COUNTRY/ IN THE/ GREAT WAR/ 1914 – 1918// FROM CONGERSTONE/ (NAMES)/ FROM GOPSALL/ (NAMES)/ GREATER LOVE HATH NO MAN THAN THIS/ THAT A MAN LAY DOWN HIS LIFE FOR HIS FRIENDS.// DEDICATED/ BY/ REV. T. W. WALTERS MA/ RURAL DEAN/ REV. ADRIAN S. ROLLASTON/ RECTOR// UNVEILED/ BY/ THE RIGHT HONL/ LORD WARING/ DECEMBER 9TH 1922.// 1939 – 1945/ (NAMES).

Sources

Websites
Imperial War Museum War Memorials Register: Conglestone War Memorial, accessed 31.05.19 from https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/37511
War Memorials Online: war memorial at Congerstone Village Green, accessed 31.05.19 from https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/168377/
Other
Leicestershire County Council’s Leicestershire & Rutland War Memorials Project website http://www.leicestershirewarmemorials.co.uk/war/memorials/view/278 [accessed 31.05.19]

Legal

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