Sewstern War Memorial

Junction of Main Street and Back Lane, Sewstern, Leicestershire, NG33 5RQ

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

Overview

War memorial, erected in 1921. Read the official list entry to find out more.

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1467388
Date first listed:: 06-Jan-2020
List Entry Name:: Sewstern War Memorial
Statutory Address:: Junction of Main Street and Back Lane, Sewstern, Leicestershire, NG33 5RQ

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1467388
Date first listed:: 06-Jan-2020
List Entry Name:: Sewstern War Memorial
Statutory Address 1:: Junction of Main Street and Back Lane, Sewstern, Leicestershire, NG33 5RQ

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:: Junction of Main Street and Back Lane, Sewstern, Leicestershire, NG33 5RQ

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

County:: Leicestershire
District:: Melton (District Authority)
Parish:: Buckminster
National Grid Reference:: SK8852421637

Summary

War memorial, erected in 1921.

Reasons for Designation

Sewstern War Memorial is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* a well-realised design in the form of a Latin cross.

Historic interest:

* as a poignant witness to the tragic impact of world events on the local community, and the sacrifice it has made in the First World War.

History

The great age of memorial building was in the aftermath of the First World War 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 which meant that the memorials provided the main focus of the grief felt at this great loss. Sewstern War Memorial commemorates four parishioners who died in the First World War. It was unveiled on Saturday 17 December 1921 by Colonel Foljambe of Buckminster and dedicated by Reverend FBA Williams, Rural Dean, of Wymondham.

The memorial was supplied by Mr T Drake of Melton Mowbray and the railings by Mr T Skins of Buckminster.

Details

War memorial, erected in 1921.

MATERIALS: carved from granite, with the inscription in lead lettering.

DESCRIPTION: the memorial comprises a roughly-hewn tapered plinth with rounded upper corners, surmounted by a roughly-hewn Latin cross. The inscription on the raised panel to the north-west face of the plinth reads:

IN EVERLASTING MEMORY / OF (NAMES) / WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES / IN THE GREAT WAR 1914-1918 / THEY DIED THAT WE MIGHT LIVE

SUBSIDIARY FEATURES: the memorial is enclosed by hoop-headed wrought iron railings, with a gate to the north-west side.

Sources

Websites
Leicestershire County Council War Memorials Project: Memorial Cross, Green at village outskirts - Sewstern, accessed 15 October 2019 from http://www.leicestershirewarmemorials.co.uk/war/memorials/view/1000
Sewstern War Memorial, accessed 15 October 2019 from https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/70284
Other
'Sewstern War Memorial' in Grantham Journal (24 December 1921), p7.
'Sewstern War Memorial' in Grantham Journal (25 June 1921), p12.

Legal

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