Lode War Memorial

Lode War Memorial, High Street, Lode, Cambridge, CB25 9EW

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

Overview

First World War memorial, dedicated in 1923, with further names added after the Second World War. The designer and mason are not known. Read the official list entry to find out more.

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1482954
Date first listed:: 11-Nov-2022
List Entry Name:: Lode War Memorial
Statutory Address:: Lode War Memorial, High Street, Lode, Cambridge, CB25 9EW

User submitted image — Uploaded by Coral Hatley This photo may not represent the current condition of the site
View all

Location

Location of this list entry and nearby places that are also listed. Use our map search to find more listed places.

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

Also of interest

Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1482954
Date first listed:: 11-Nov-2022
List Entry Name:: Lode War Memorial
Statutory Address 1:: Lode War Memorial, High Street, Lode, Cambridge, CB25 9EW

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:: Lode War Memorial, High Street, Lode, Cambridge, CB25 9EW

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

County:: Cambridgeshire
District:: East Cambridgeshire (District Authority)
Parish:: Lode
National Grid Reference:: TL5336662687

Summary

First World War memorial, dedicated in 1923, with further names added after the Second World War. The designer and mason are not known.

Reasons for Designation

Lode War Memorial 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:

* as a good example of memorial design incorporating a curved wall which contains a dedication to the fallen of the Second World War.

Group value:

* cut into the boundary of the parish church of St James, Lode, the memorial holds a strong functional group value with the church.

History

The aftermath of the First World War that was the great age of memorial building, 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.

Lode War Memorial was dedicated on 4 March 1923 on a prominent site in the village which was created by moving the boundary to the churchyard of the parish Church of St James (Grade II) eastwards, leaving a semi-circular area set back from the pavement.

The architect and sculptor responsible for the memorial are not known. It commemorates 19 individuals from the parish of Lode; 14 names from the First World War and five from the Second.

When erected a contemporary image shows some form of shield or medallion at the base of the cross shaft which has since been removed. The wall behind the memorial originally had moulded brick coping but this was replaced after the Second World War with new coping above a band of ashlar inscribed with a dedication to the fallen of that conflict.

Details

MATERIALS: Granite, limestone and brick.

DESCRIPTION: situated on the western edge of the churchyard of the parish Church of St James, Lode, a prominent site on the village High Street.

The memorial consists of a Celtic wheel cross on a tapering plinth raised on two square stone steps. The cross arms and shaft have simple raised, moulded edges, the cross ring is plain. The cross stands in a semi-circular paved area enclosed by a curved Gault brick wall on its eastern side forming the churchyard boundary and which terminates in low brick piers.

The front (west) face of the plinth features an inscription in pinned lead lettering which reads ‘THIS MEMORIAL IS ERECTED BY THEIR FELLOW / PARISHIONERS TO THE REVERED MEMORY OF THE MEN / OF THE PARISH OF LODE WHO FELL IN THE GREAT WAR / 1914-1918’ The names of the fallen are inscribed on the plinth in two columns, each with seven names.

An ashlar limestone band below the coping on the wall behind the cross is inscribed: ‘TO THE REVERED MEMORY OF THE MEN OF THE PARISH OF LODE WHO / FELL IN THE WAR 1939-1945’ followed by the names of five men who lost their lives.

Sources

Websites
Roll of Honor, accessed 21 July 2022 from http://www.roll-of-honour.com/Cambridgeshire/Lode.html
UK Inventory of War Memorials , accessed 21 July 2022 from https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/46474
War Memorials Online, accessed 21 July 2022 from https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/210335/

Legal

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