British Listed Buildings

Listing Text

971/0/10028 WAR MEMORIAL AT RIPPLESIDE CEMETERY
02-AUG-10

GV II
First World War memorial

The memorial is a Cross of Sacrifice made of Portland stone. It comprises a freestanding Latin cross, mounted on an octagonal base with inscriptions around the sides, resting on an octagonal plinth and base with overhanging chamfered coping. On western face of the cross is a bronze sword, blade down.

The west facing sides of the plinth bear the carved relief inscription: THIS CROSS OF SACRIFICE IS ONE IN DESIGN / AND INTENTION WITH THOSE WHICH HAVE / BEEN SET UP IN FRANCE AND BELGIUM AND / OTHER PLACES THROUGHOUT THE WORLD / WHERE OUR DEAD OF THE / GREAT WAR ARE LAID TO REST. The lower tier of the plinth bears the inscription: THEIR NAME LIVETH FOR EVERMORE. No names of the Fallen are listed on the memorial.

In front of base is a small separate stone pedestal with a wreath ornament, inside which initials BL (British Legion) are carved, beneath is the inscription reading: 1914-1918 BRITISH LEGION WOMEN'S SECTION. This pedestal is probably a later addition and is not a part of the original design; it has limited artistic interest, and is thus not included in the designation.

The memorial is situated in a prominent location at the joining of two paths, to the south-west of Chadwell Heath Cemetery Chapel (assessed for designation separately), within the Rippleside Cemetery, Barking.

HISTORY:
The Rippleside war memorial was erected after World War I to honour the men of Barking who served and died during the conflict.

The memorial is a `Cross of Sacrifice' type designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield, a leading architect and garden designer of the period who was one of the official architects to the Imperial War Graves Commission (IWGC), later renamed the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC). The Commission was set up in 1914 by Sir Fabian Ware with to individually commemorate the casualties of WWI. In order to achieve beauty and permanence in the physical forms of commemoration, four eminent architects were assigned to design war cemeteries: Sir Edward Lutyens, Sir Reginald Blomfield and Sir Herbert Baker. All were expected to work according to the principles set out by Frederic Kenyon, the Director of the British Museum, and Rudyard Kipling as literary advisor. The cemeteries incorporated architecture and planting, and although full of common themes in designs, all were to be unique and yet visually distinctive.

One of the two key elements of the cemetery design, along with the War Stone by Lutyens, was the Cross of Sacrifice by Blomfield. Whilst the former was generally regarded as `the universal mark of British War Cemetery', the latter incorporated Christian symbolism, which was otherwise muted in the design of headstones and cemetery buildings.
The British Legion, whose members are also commemorated here, was established as charity organisation in 1921 to support the interest of widows and families of ex-servicemen. In the same year the British Legion Auxiliary Women's Section was formed and in 1922 renamed to The British Legion Women's Section, (the prefix `Royal' was added in 1971). It is one of the largest charitable organisations in the UK.

SOURCES:
United Kingdom National Inventory of War Memorials, www.ukniwm.org.uk, accessed 20 April 2010
T Skelton, G Gliddon, Lutyens and the Great War, (2008), 110-112
http://www.cwgc.org/search/cemetery_details.aspx?cemetery=38400&mode=1 accessed 13 May 2010

The war memorial at Rippleside cemetery is designated at Grade II, for the following principal reasons:
* Architectural interest: a poignant design with a downturned sword superimposed on a cross, used in Commonwealth war cemeteries across the globe
* Authorship: designed by Reginald Blomfield, a prominent Edwardian architect and garden designer and one of the Imperial (now Commonwealth) War Graves Commission's official architects
* Historic interest: a permanent testament to the sacrifice of The Fallen in the First World War
* Group value: with Chadwell Heath Cemetery Chapel.

Source: English Heritage

Listed building text is © Crown Copyright. Reproduced under licence: PSI Click-use licence number C2008002006.