Loughborough Baptists War Memorial

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

Overview

A granite war memorial, erected in 1919. Read the official list entry to find out more.

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1467397
Date first listed:: 17-Jan-2020
List Entry Name:: Loughborough Baptists War Memorial

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:: 1467397
Date first listed:: 17-Jan-2020
List Entry Name:: Loughborough Baptists War Memorial
Location Description:: Entrance gates to Loughborough Baptist Church, Baxter Gate, Loughborough, Leicestershire, LE11 1TZ.

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

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

County:: Leicestershire
District:: Charnwood (District Authority)
Parish:: Non Civil Parish
National Grid Reference:: SK5373819716

Summary

A granite war memorial, erected in 1919.

Reasons for Designation

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

Architectural interest:

* its form, as a pillar carved from red Peterhead granite, is accomplished and well-executed.

Historic interest:

* as a poignant witness to the tragic impact of the First World War on the local Baptist community, and the sacrifice it made during the conflict.

Group value:

* with Loughborough Baptist Church (Grade II).

History

The great age of memorial building was in the aftermath of the First World War which 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. The memorials, therefore, provided the main focus of the grief felt at this great loss.

122 men from the three Baptist congregations in Loughborough served in the First World War, and of those 45 were killed, 23 of whom were members of the Baxter Gate and King Street churches. The war memorial, paid for by the church members and unveiled on the 21 August 1919, and dedicated by the Minister, Reverend Reuben Handford, commemorates these men.

The memorial, originally surmounted by an iron lamp post, stood at the centre of the forecourt to Loughborough Baptist Church, Baxter Gate (Grade II). It has since been moved to the left-hand side of the entrance gates to the church, beside Number 8 Baxter Gate, and to the right-hand side of the entrance gates, beside Number 11 Baxter Gate, where it currently stands.

Details

War memorial, erected in 1919.

MATERIALS: carved from red Peterhead granite, with lead lettering.

DESCRIPTION: the memorial comprises a two-tiered square base with a moulded top edge, surmounted by a polished red granite tapering pillar of square section with a bevelled-edge flat top. The front face of the pillar bears the inscription:

ERECTED IN HONOUR / OF / THE MEN FROM THIS CHURCH / WHO SERVED THE CAUSE OF / FREEDOM & RIGHT / IN THE / GREAT WAR 1914-1918 / AND IN GRATEFUL MEMORY / OF THOSE / NAMED BELOW / WHO FELL IN THE CONFLICT / (NAMES) / JESUS SAID:- I AM THE RESURRECTION / AND THE LIFE. JOHN XI 25

Sources

Websites
Leicestershire County Council War Memorials Project: Loughborough Baptist Church, accessed 16 October 2019 from http://www.leicestershirewarmemorials.co.uk/war/memorials/view/702
Loughborough Baptist Church, accessed 16 October 2016 from https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/73666
Other
'Letters from the Trenches in the First World War: Christmas Parcels from Loughborough Baptist Church', Loughborough Baptist Church (2014)

Legal

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