Wylye War Memorial

Summary

First World War memorial with Second World War additions.

Reasons for Designation

Wylye War Memorial, which is situated in St Mary’s churchyard, 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;

* the list of names on the memorial is unusual as it includes the name of a female casualty, Ivy Hibberd, a member of the Women’s Royal Air Force who died of pneumonia five days before the Armistice.

Architectural interest:

* a well-executed wheel-head cross memorial.

Group value:

* with the Grade II*-listed Church of St Mary and the Grade II-listed churchyard monuments and Railed Enclosure and Gate Piers on South Edge of Churchyard.

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 Wylye as a permanent testament to the sacrifice made by the seven members of the local community who lost their lives in the First World War. One of those remembered is Ivy Hibberd, a member of the Women’s Royal Air Force who died of pneumonia on 6 November 1918, aged 19.

The memorial was presumably erected not long after the end of the First World War, and was in situ by the Ordnance Survey County Series 25in map published in 1924.

The names of the two parishioners who died in the Second World War were subsequently added to the memorial.

Details

First World War memorial with Second World War additions.

DESCRIPTION: Wylye War Memorial is located in the churchyard to the west of the Church of St Mary (Grade II*-listed), and adjacent to the main path leading to the church. The churchyard also contains numerous Grade II-listed monuments and the Grade II-listed Railed Enclosure and Gate Piers on South Edge of Churchyard.

The war memorial takes the form of a granite wheel-head cross upon a tall shaft with moulded foot. This rises from a tapering, four-sided plinth, which surmounts a square base. The plinth carries the inscriptions and names in leaded lettering.

The main inscription is on the west (front) face of the plinth and reads THIS CROSS WAS ERECTED/ BY THE PARISHIONERS OF WYLYE,/ IN MEMORY OF THE FOLLOWING/ WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES/ IN THE CAUSE OF THE GREAT WAR/ 1914 – 1918/ (7 NAMES). On the east (rear) of the plinth is the following inscription 1939 – 1945/ (2 NAMES).

Sources

Websites
War Memorials Register, accessed 26 October 2017 from http://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/70135
War Memorials Online, accessed 26 October 2017 from https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/197440
Sedgwick, C, Wylye War Memorial St Mary’s Churchyard (2015), accessed 26 October 2017 from http://www.wiltshire-opc.org.uk/Items/Wylye/Wylye%20-%20War%20Memorial.pdf
‘Hibberd, Ivy Pretoria May’, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, accessed 26 October 2017 from https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/407073/hibberd,-ivy-pretoria-may/
‘Ivy Pretoria May Hibberd’, Find a Grave, accessed 26 October 2017 from https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Hibberd&GSiman=1&GSst=4249&GSob=c&GRid=90754423&

Other
OS map 25” (1924 edn)

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