List Entry Summary

This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.

Name: Helmdon War Memorial

List entry Number: 1425554

Location

Junction of Wappenham Road and Station Road, Helmdon, Northamptonshire, NN13 5UF

The building may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

County: Northamptonshire

District: South Northamptonshire

District Type: District Authority

Parish: Helmdon

National Park: Not applicable to this List entry.

Grade: II

Date first listed: 30-Mar-2015

Date of most recent amendment: Not applicable to this List entry.

Asset Groupings

This list entry does not comprise part of an Asset Grouping. Asset Groupings are not part of the official record but are added later for information.

List entry Description

Summary of Building

First World War memorial, erected by 1921. Later additions for the Second World War.

Reasons for Designation

Helmdon War Memorial, which stands on a triangular Green in the village, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons: * Historic interest: as an eloquent witness to the tragic impact of world events on the local community, and the sacrifice it made in the conflicts of the C20; * Design: a large and well-executed Celtic cross.

History

The war memorial was in place by July 1921 and dedicated by the Bishop of Leicester.  The local Helmdon stone quarries were worked out by that time and the material for the memorial, greyish-purple Hornton stone, came from the Edge Hill quarries near Banbury. John Campin was the stone mason, and it is said that two years after it was erected the memorial collapsed in a storm, subsequently being re-erected somewhat lower in height. At one time, the memorial was surrounded by a picket fence enclosing the triangular Green on which the memorial stands. This fence has since been replaced.

Details

The memorial, overall c 4m tall, stands on a small, triangular Green. It comprises an apparently outsize wheel-head cross (perhaps because the shaft was originally taller) with blind tracery carved at the cross centre and decorating the cross arms. This stands at the top of a square-sectioned shaft, which rises from a short plinth. That stands on a taller base of a yellower stone. The memorial stands on a concrete surround.

On the base of the shaft is inscribed REMEMBER HIM/ WHO DIED FOR/ US ALL FORGET/ NOT THE MEN WHO/ GAVE THEIR LIVES/ FOR ENGLAND. The names of those who died in the First World War are carved on the plinth. A plaque has been added to the base commemorating the name of one man who died in the Second World War.

To one side of the memorial a stone plaque set on the ground records the names of ten men of the US Army Air Corps who lost their lives in an aircraft crash at Astwell Castle Farm, approximately 2km to the east of Helmdon, on 30 November 1943.

The modern post and chain fence around the memorial is excluded from the listing.

NB.  Since this listing, it was decided to remove the modern post and chain fencing around the memorial as several of the fence posts were either broken or in need of replacement.

Selected Sources

Websites
Helmdon Village Website, Village Trail, accessed 05/12/2014 from http://www.helmdon.com/trail/tier1/warmemorial.html
Helmdon's War Memorial. The Men Behind the Names., accessed 05/12/2014 from http://www.helmdon.com/history/helmdons_war_memorial_v1.pdf

National Grid Reference: SP5876543920