Sherborne Abbey First World War Memorial and Second World War Memorial Wall

Heritage listing

Details A First World War memorial designed by WD Caröe, unveiled 1921. Memorial plaques by Ralph Fry added to a freestanding wall to the north, designed by Messrs Blacking and Potter, commemorate those who fell in the Second World War; eighteen civilians lost in an air raid in 1940 during the Battle of Britain; and members of the US military killed in a landmine accident nearby in 1944. MATERIALS: Doulting stone; bronze. DESCRIPTION: the memorial stands to the south-west of Sherborne Abbey (listed Grade I), within the abbey close. Stone steps lead up from the street level and the memorial is set within a paved area flanked by hedges and a low stone wall, set with further memorial plaques, behind to the north. The First World War memorial comprises a hexagonal plinth with two hexagonal steps above. On the upper step are bronze plaques recording the names of the 175 who fell in the First World War. Above this is a buttressed square plinth, which rises to a square plinth set at a 45-degree angle. The plinth is surmounted with a square base with concave corners and an octagonal moulded coping; this is inscribed IN MEMORIAM 1914-1919 on both the north and south faces. Additionally, on the west side is inscribed: THEY DIED FOR FREEDOM AND HONOUR; and on the east side: GREATER LOVE HATH NO MAN THAN THIS THAT A MAN LAY DOWN HIS LIFE FOR HIS FRIENDS. The octagonal shaft rises to a pierced cross quadrate. The overall height is 25ft. To the north of the memorial is a low stone wall, mounted to the left and middle with bronze plaques to commemorate those lost in the Second World War. To the right is a further bronze plaque inscribed THOSE WHO DIED IN THE AIR RAID / ON SHERBORNE 30 SEPTEMBER 1940 and the names of the eighteen who were killed on that day. Below the middle Second Wor

From the Historic England List Entry under OGL v3.