Wildmore and Thornton Le Fen War Memorial

Summary

First World War memorial, unveiled 1920, with later additions for the Second World War.

Reasons for Designation

Wildmore and Thornton Le Fen War Memorial, which stands in the churchyard of St Peter’s Church, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Historic interest: as an eloquent witness to the tragic impact of world events on this local community, and the sacrifice it has made in the conflicts of the C20;
* Architectural interest: an elegant stone memorial cross;
* Group value: with the Church of St Peter (Grade II-listed).

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 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 Wildmore as a permanent testament to the sacrifice made by the members of the district who lost their lives in the First World War.

The memorial was unveiled on 23 November 1920, in commemoration of nine local servicemen. The ceremony followed a special service at St Peter’s Church, after which the Bishop of Grantham, the Right Reverend John Edward Hine, unveiled the memorial and the Last Post was sounded by a bugler from the Lincolnshire Regiment. The memorial masons were Messrs Browning and Sons of Spilsby. Following the Second World War an additional inscription was added with three names.

Messrs Browning and Sons of Spilsby were responsible for a number of war memorials in east Lincolnshire, including those at East Kirkby (Grade II), Fishtoft (Grade II) and Stickney (Grade II).

Details

The war memorial stands in the churchyard of the Church of St Peter (Grade II-listed). It takes the form of a tall and slender stone Latin cross, 3.7m in height. The cross rises from a two-stage plinth, square on plan, which stands on a two-stepped octagonal base.

On the upper stage of the plinth a prayer is carved in relief around all four sides, reading (east) O LAMB OF GOD, (north) THAT TAKEST AWAY, (west) THE SINS OF THE WORLD, (south) GRANT THEM PEACE. On the lower stage the eastern and southern faces have further inscriptions in incised lettering. The eastern face has the inscription 1914-1918/ IN LOYAL MEMORY OF/ (NAMES)/ WHO DIED THAT WE MIGHT LIVE. The lowest line is carved in relief. On the southern face the inscription reads 1939-1945/ (NAMES)/ THEIR NAME LIVETH FOR EVERMORE.


This List entry has been amended to add the source for War Memorials Online. This source was not used in the compilation of this List entry but is added here as a guide for further reading, 6 March 2017.

Sources

Books and journals
Credland, M, The First World War Memorials of Lincolnshire, (2014), 19-20, 180

Websites
War Memorials Register, accessed 31 December 2016 from http://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/68641
War Memorials Online, accessed 6 March 2017 from https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/122897

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