Cranborne War Memorial
Village Green, Wimborne Street, Cranborne, Dorset, BH21 5PP
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1466546
- Date first listed:
- 10-Dec-2019
- List Entry Name:
- Cranborne War Memorial
- Statutory Address:
- Village Green, Wimborne Street, Cranborne, Dorset, BH21 5PP
Location
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1466546
- Date first listed:
- 10-Dec-2019
- List Entry Name:
- Cranborne War Memorial
- Statutory Address 1:
- Village Green, Wimborne Street, Cranborne, Dorset, BH21 5PP
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, Wimborne Street, Cranborne, Dorset, BH21 5PP
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- District:
- Dorset (Unitary Authority)
- Parish:
- Cranborne
- National Grid Reference:
- SU0553313223
Summary
A stone war memorial of interwar date.
Reasons for Designation
Cranborne War Memorial is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
Historic interest:
* it is 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:
* it is a well-detailed war memorial in the form of a stone cross with elaborate carved crosshead.
Group value:
* it has group value with the Church of St Mary and St Bartholomew (listed at Grade I) and other Grade II listed buildings.
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 polity 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 Cranborne, sometime after 1920, 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 commemorates 12 servicemen who died in the First World War; it would appear that one of the names has been added at a later date. The memorial was later altered to recognise the eight serviceman of this parish who fell in the Second World War. The low brick wall which runs parallel to the east of the memorial is of later C20 date. A photograph of 1939 shows that the green on which the memorial stands was originally separated from the road by a low box hedge and that the memorial was surrounded by a path. The memorial was restored in 2018 including a replaced stone shaft.
Details
A war memorial of interwar date.
MATERIALS: constructed of stone.
DESCRIPTION: comprising a small Latin cross with an decorative floriated crosshead rising from a moulded collar on an octagonal shaft. This is set on a plinth, square on plan, on a two-stepped base.
The east face of the plinth bears the incised inscription: TO THE GLORY OF GOD AND IN/ PROUD AND GRATEFUL MEMORY OF/ THE MEN OF THIS PARISH WHO GAVE/ THEIR LIVES FOR ENGLAND’S HONOUR/ 1914 – 1918./ (NAMES). The south face has the dedication 1939 – 1945/ (NAMES).
Sources
Websites
Imperial War Museum War Memorials Register - Cranborne, accessed 21 August 2019 from https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/26605
War Memorials Online - Cranborne, accessed 21 August 2019 from https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/97581
Francis Frith - Cranborne, The War Memorial, 1939, accessed 21 August 2019 from https://www.francisfrith.com/cranborne/cranborne-the-war-memorial-1939_c694001m
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 14-Jun-2026 at 13:00:23.
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.