Summary

First World War memorial with later additions for the Second World War.

Description

MATERIALS: limestone wheel-head cross, brick enclosure, iron railings.

DESCRIPTION: Chinnor War Memorial is located within a raised paved enclosure formed of low brick piers capped with stone and low brick walls topped with iron railings. The enclosure faces the High Street and is accessed via three steps up to a brick-walled entranceway with decorative iron entrance gates.

The memorial consists of a plain wheel-head cross with a collar rising from a hexagonal shaft. The shaft is set upon a hexagonal plinth and a four-stepped hexagonal base.

The plinth has incised inscriptions and reads: IN MEMORY OF/ THESE/ OFFICERS AND MEN/ OF CHINNOR PARISH/ WHO FELL/ IN THE GREAT WAR/ 1914 – 1918. The other faces of the plinth are incised with the list of names.

Set into the two middle steps is a raised plaque which is inscribed with: 1939 – 1945/ (NAMES).

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, 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.

One such memorial was raised at Chinnor as a permanent testament to the sacrifice made by the members of the local community who lost their lives in the First World War. It commemorates 31 local servicemen who died during the First World War. It was built within an existing village pound seen on the Ordnance Survey map of 1881, which was adapted for use as an enclosure for the war memorial as seen on the later map of 1937.

Following the Second World War, a dedication was added to commemorate the eight fallen of that conflict.

In 2013 the memorial was cleaned and repaired with the help of grant aid from War Memorials Trust.

Reasons for Listing

Chinnor 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 this community, and the sacrifice it made in the conflicts of the C20;
* Design: a well-executed stone cross set within a brick-walled enclosure with steps, and decorative entrance gates;
* Group value: with Pinnatts (Grade II-listed) opposite.

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q66477723

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.

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