Monckton War Memorial in All Saints Churchyard

Heritage listing

Details 883/1/10029 MILL STREET Monckton War Memorial in All Saints Churchyard 27-APR-10 GV II War memorial. Portland stone. 1918 DESCRIPTION: Built of Portland stone, the memorial takes the form of a tall octagonal shaft topped with an ornate cross with elaborate tracery and carved terminals. Below the cross is a hexagonal moulded collar and below this, mounted on projecting plinths, are four medieval style figures representing: a knight with shield; a king; a warrior with spear; and a Madonna and child. The shaft sits on an octagonal plinth resting on a three step octagonal base. The inscription, in a Gothic script, runs in an incised band round the base and reads: THIS CROSS WAS ERECTED AND/ DEDICATED 1918/ TO THE GLORY OF GOD/ IN PERPETUAL AND GRATEFUL/ MEMORY OF MAIDSTONE MEN/ WHO IN THE GREAT WAR 1914-1919/ GAVE THEIR LIVES FOR THE EMPIRE/ "TRUE LOVE BY LIFE TRUE LOVE BY DEATH IS TRIED LIVE THOU FOR ENGLAND WE FOR ENGLAND DIED". The memorial is located in a prominent setting in the churchyard of All Saints Church, just to the east of the church and visible from Mill Street. HISTORY: The Monckton war memorial is unusual in that it was erected in 1918 by a member of a prominent local family, probably Herbert Monckton who had been the Town Clerk of Maidstone and in 1915 had advocated recreational trips on the Medway for the large numbers of invalid soldiers in the town. It is a private memorial to the citizens of Maidstone who died in World War I, rather than the more usual civic-funded memorials erected by communities. As such it bears an inscription but not the names of the fallen. The designer is currently unknown although it was dedicated by Archbishop Randall Davidson. SOURCES: United Kingdom National Inventory of War Memorials Ref: 32523 REASONS FOR DESIGNATION

From the Historic England List Entry under OGL v3.