War Memorial Cross and Wall Plaque

Heritage listing

Details AMERSHAM 166/0/10014 THE BROADWAY 26-APR-10 (North side) War memorial cross and wall plaque II War memorials for World War I (1921 by Philip M Johnstone) and World War II (1949, designer unknown). DESCRIPTION: The World War I memorial is of Portland stone and consists of an ornate floreate cross bearing a figure of Christ on a tall slender shaft with chamfered edges containing a foliate design and topped by an octagonal capital with floral carvings. The shaft surmounts a square plinth with chamfered corners and octagonal top section supported by a two-step base, the larger lower step having blind Gothic style tracery. The whole is enclosed by a low free-standing moulded Portland stone surround on a paved surface. An inter-war photograph of the memorial in its original location shows the surround to have been an original feature of the design. The incised inscription on the south face of the plinth in a Gothic script reads: TO THE GLORY OF GOD/ AND IN MEMORY OF THE/ MEN OF AMERSHAM WHO/ GAVE THEIR LIVES IN THE/ GREAT WAR FOR FREEDOM. Above this at the foot of the shaft is the date A.D./ 1914-19. The names of the 80 fallen of World War I are recorded on the remaining sides of the plinth. Just to the north of the World War I memorial is the rectangular bronze plaque, set into a projection of the brick boundary wall (the listing includes the projection but not the remainder of the boundary wall), commemorating the fallen of World War II. The inscription reads: THIS GARDEN OF REMEMBRANCE IS LAID OUT/ IN HONOURED MEMORY OF THOSE FROM THIS/ PARISH WHO MADE THE SUPREME SACRIFICE/ IN THE WORLD WAR 1939-1945 with the names of the 60 fallen below. HISTORY: Amersham War Memorial was dedicated on 10 July 1921 by the Lord Bishop of Buckingham and unveiled by Brigadier-General

From the Historic England List Entry under OGL v3.