Needham Market War Memorial

St John the Baptist Cemetery, Barratts Lane, Needham Market, Suffolk, IP6 8BS

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Overview

First World War memorial, 1921, with later additions. Read the official list entry to find out more.

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1468224
Date first listed:: 07-Feb-2020
List Entry Name:: Needham Market War Memorial
Statutory Address:: St John the Baptist Cemetery, Barratts Lane, Needham Market, Suffolk, IP6 8BS

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1468224
Date first listed:: 07-Feb-2020
List Entry Name:: Needham Market War Memorial
Statutory Address 1:: St John the Baptist Cemetery, Barratts Lane, Needham Market, Suffolk, IP6 8BS

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:: St John the Baptist Cemetery, Barratts Lane, Needham Market, Suffolk, IP6 8BS

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

County:: Suffolk
District:: Mid Suffolk (District Authority)
Parish:: Needham Market
National Grid Reference:: TM0833154882

Summary

First World War memorial, 1921, with later additions.

Reasons for Designation

Needham Market War Memorial, which stands in St John the Baptist's Cemetery, 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:

* the monolith is a well-executed example in durable granite which survives well and forms a prominent centrepiece to the cemetery.

Group value:

* sharing a close association with the lych gate, also listed at Grade II.

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.

Two such memorials were raised in St John the Baptist's Cemetery at Needham Market as permanent testaments to the sacrifice made by the members of the local community who lost their lives in the First World War. In the middle of the cemetery is a free standing stone monolith, and at the entrance, a memorial lych gate (Grade II). The central memorial was unveiled on 17 April 1921 by Brigadier-General S E Massey-Lloyd.

The names of those parishioners who fell during the Second World War were subsequently added to the memorial.

Details

First World War memorial, 1921, with later additions. MATERIALS: constructed from Cornish granite.

PLAN: located in the middle of the cemetery, at the intersection of the principal axial pathways.

DESCRIPTION: the memorial is a 1.5m tall monolith of roughly-hewn granite, with a squat granite plinth and limestone base. The western face has a carved scroll containing the main inscription in leaded letters: ‘TO THE GLORY OF GOD / AND IN MEMORY OF THE FALLEN / OF THIS PARISH IN THE GREAT WAR / 1914 – 1918’, followed by the names of the 46 local men who died in the conflict. The plinth is inscribed: ‘THIS MEMORIAL AND LYCH GATE ERECTED BY THE INHABITANTS’. A small flower vase set at the foot of the memorial bears the words: ‘AT REST’.

On the rear of the monolith is a dressed area of stone inscribed: ‘TO THE GLORY OF GOD / AND IN MEMORY OF’, followed by ten names, and ‘1939-1945’.

The memorial stands on an earth mound and is surrounded by concrete bollards linked by chains.

Sources

Websites
Needham Market – Municipal (ref 4795), Imperial War Museum War Memorials Register, accessed 08/01/2020 from http://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/4795
Other
East Anglian Daily Times, 19 April 1921

Legal

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