Wereham War Memorial

Wereham War Memorial, St Margaret's Church, St Margaret's Churchyard, St Margaret's Hill, Wereham, PE33 9AW

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Overview

First and Second World War memorial. Erected around 1920 with the names of the Fallen of the Second World War added after 1945. Read the official list entry to find out more.

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1457775
Date first listed:: 28-Jan-2019
List Entry Name:: Wereham War Memorial
Statutory Address:: Wereham War Memorial, St Margaret's Church, St Margaret's Churchyard, St Margaret's Hill, Wereham, PE33 9AW

A photo of the Wereham War Memorial. Has remembrance wreaths placed on it within the picture. — Uploaded by Wereham Parish Council This photo may not represent the current condition of the site
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Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1457775
Date first listed:: 28-Jan-2019
List Entry Name:: Wereham War Memorial
Statutory Address 1:: Wereham War Memorial, St Margaret's Church, St Margaret's Churchyard, St Margaret's Hill, Wereham, PE33 9AW

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:: Wereham War Memorial, St Margaret's Church, St Margaret's Churchyard, St Margaret's Hill, Wereham, PE33 9AW

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

County:: Norfolk
District:: King's Lynn and West Norfolk (District Authority)
Parish:: Wereham
National Grid Reference:: TF6808101684

Summary

First and Second World War memorial. Erected around 1920 with the names of the Fallen of the Second World War added after 1945.

Reasons for Designation

Wereham War Memorial, which stands in the churchyard of the Church of St Margaret, Wereham, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* as a simple, but well executed Latin cross in limestone.

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.

Group value:

* with the Grade II*-listed Church of St Margaret, the Grade II-listed Pitt Farmhouse and the Grade II-listed George and Dragon.

History

The aftermath of the First World War saw an unprecedented wave of public commemoration with tens of thousands of memorials erected across the country, both as a result of the huge impact the loss of three quarters of a million British lives had on communities and 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.

One such memorial was raised at Wereham, probably in the early 1920s as 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 15 local servicemen who fell in the First World War and two men who fell in the Second World War.

The original inscriptions were replaced by brass plaques, probably in the 1990s.

Details

First and Second World War memorial. Erected around 1920 with the names of the Fallen of the Second World War added after 1945.

MATERIALS: Carved from limestone.

DESCRIPTION: Wereham War Memorial is located in the churchyard of the Church of St Margaret, Wereham, Norfolk. It is prominently situated in a gap made in the churchyard wall, overlooking the village pond and green. It comprises an approximately 4m stone Latin cross surmounting an octagonal shaft with moulded table/collar at the top, and moulded base section, atop a four-sided plinth with moulded upper edges and corners, on a two-stepped, stone base. The whole is set into a gap in the churchyard wall, and separated from passers-by by a semi-circular railing. The plinth bears the inscriptions on brass plaques (originally the inscriptions were incised into the stone).

The inscriptions have been replaced by the insertion of brass plaques that read IN/ MEMORY OF / THE MEN OF WEREHAM WHO DIED FOR / THEIR COUNTRY IN THE GREAT WAR / 1914 – 1918 / AND THOSE IN THE SECOND WORLD WAR / 1939 – 1945 / (NAMES).

Sources

Websites
Information on war memorials from the Imperial War Museum database, accessed 24 August 2018 from https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/19657
Information on war memorials from the War Memorials Online database, accessed 24 August 2018 from https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/161564/

Legal

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