Summary

First World War memorial by Sir Edwin Lutyens with later additions for the Second World War.

Description

The memorial stands opposite St Andrew’s church (listed Grade II*). It comprises a limestone War Cross set on a three-stage, rectangular, plinth, itself set on a small, square, base. Unusually for a Lutyens memorial of this type, the inscriptions are of bronze lettering set in inset panels in the stonework. On the second stage of the plinth is: TO THE MEMORY OF/ OUR GLORIOUS DEAD/ 1914-1919. The names of the fallen are listed on the third (lowest) stage. The top stage has the added inscription, again in bronze lettering: 1939-1945/ (names). On the back of the memorial ‘VF 1920’ is inscribed. Victor Hayward was the foreman and stonemason on the Wills estate.

This list entry was subject to a Minor Amendment on 14/10/2015

This List entry has been amended to add sources for War Memorials Online and the War Memorials Register. These sources were not used in the compilation of this List entry but are added here as a guide for further reading, 10 January 2017.

History

It is likely that the commissioning of Lutyens to design the Miserden memorial was via Noel Wills, who owned the nearby Misarden (sic) Park, where Lutyens designed a new east wing and loggia after a serious fire in 1919. The memorial was probably unveiled in 1920.

Sir Edwin Lutyens OM RA (1869-1944) was the leading English architect of his generation. Before the First World War his reputation rested on his country houses and his work at New Delhi, but during and after the war he became the pre-eminent architect for war memorials in England, France and the British Empire. While the Cenotaph in Whitehall (London) had the most influence on other war memorials, the Thiepval Arch was the most influential on other forms of architecture. He designed the Stone of Remembrance which was placed in all Imperial War Graves Commission cemeteries and in some cemeteries in England, including some with which he was not otherwise associated.

Reasons for Listing

Miserden War Memorial is listed at Grade II for the following principle reasons:

* Historic interest: as an eloquent witness to the tragic impacts of world events on this community, and the sacrifices it made in the conflicts of the C20;

* Architect: by the nationally renowned architect Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens (1869-1944), who designed extant 58 memorials at home and abroad including the Cenotaph in Whitehall;

* Design: a simple yet elegant War Cross, unusually with the inscriptions in bronze lettering;

* Group value: with St Andrew’s church (Grade II*) and the Old Rectory (Grade II).

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Miserden War Memorial at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q26383553

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Kent: West and the Weald: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Listed Buildings, Conservation Areas and Monuments
• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of History Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas
• 
  Department for Communities Listed Historic Buildings of Northern Ireland: Information Guide for the 2nd Survey of Historic Buildings
• 
  Nottinghamshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Surrey (The Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)