New Shildon War Memorial

The c6.5m tall Heworth stone memorial stands at the roadside opposite the Railway Institute and Forecourt Walls (Grade II-listed) on Redworth Road. It takes the form of a small wheel-head cross rising from the moulded collar of an octagonal cross shaft. The cross shaft stands on a plinth, square on plan, which stands on a two-stepped base.

The principal dedicatory inscription on the front face of the plinth reads TO THE GLORIOUS MEMORY OF/ 124 NEW SHILDON MEN WHO LAID DOWN/ THEIR LIVES IN THE GREAT WAR/ 1914 – 1918/ “BLOW OUT YE BUGLES OVER THE RICH DEAD!/ THERE’S NONE OF THESE SO LONELY AND/ POOR OF OLD/ BUT, DYING, HAS MADE US RICHER GIFTS/ THAN GOLD.”/ “HE THAT LOSETH HIS LIFE SHALL FIND IT –/ UNTO LIFE ETERNAL.”

The commemorated names are listed on the remaining three sides of the plinth. The inscription to the riser of the upper step of the base reads JOSEPH LENG, AGED 7 YEARS, DROWNED WHILE VISITING HIS FATHER IN FRANCE. All the inscriptions are incised.

This List entry has been amended to add sources for War Memorials Online and the War Memorials Register. These sources were not used in the compilation of this List entry but are added here as a guide for further reading, 27 February 2017.