Allenton War Memorial

First World War memorial, dedicated in 1919, with Second World War additions. It was re-sited in 1929 and again in 1989. It was sculpted by W Gadsby and Company of Derby.

MATERIALS: of Hopton Wood limestone.

PLAN: it is square on plan.

DESCRIPTION: the memorial, which faces north-west, takes the form of a life-size statue of a soldier in First World War uniform standing 'at ease' with a rifle at his right-hand side and a rock at the rear. It stands upon the capstone of a tall pedestal which in turn stands on a moulded plinth. Below is a single-stepped base. The capstone is moulded, with an undercut dentilled cornice, while the pedestal is divided by an astragal, with the smaller upper sections containing inscriptions set between foliated relief carvings. Below are raised inscription panels with pointed heads. The inscription on the north-west face (front) reads: 'IN IMPERISHABLE MEMORY / OF THE MEN OF ALLENTOWN / WHO MADE THE SUPREME / SACRIFICE IN THE GREAT WAR / 1914 - 1918 ', with the names of the men who died being inscribed on the raised panel below. The south-west face is inscribed: 'IN IMPERISHABLE MEMORY / OF THE MEN OF ALLENTOWN / WHO ENLISTED IN THE / GREAT WAR / 1914 while the inscription on the north-east face reads 'IN IMPERISHABLE MEMORY / OF THE MEN OF ALLENTOWN / WHO ENLISTED IN THE / GREAT WAR / 1915'. The names of the men who enlisted and returned are inscribed on the raised panels beneath, with those on the north-east side extending onto the plinth. The upper section of the raised panel on the south-east face (rear), which was probably added in 1989, is inscribed : 'THIS MEMORIAL / ALSO COMMEMORATES / THE SACRIFICE / OF MEN AND WOMEN / WHO DIED IN THE 1939-45 WAR / AND SUBSEQUENT CONFLICTS', while the inscription to the lower section reads: 'THIS MEMORIAL WAS RE-SITED / AND REDEDICATED / BY THE VICAR OF / ST EDMUNDS CHURCH / ALLENTON / ON 29TH OCTOBER 1989'.

The memorial stands at the south-east side of a paved area which is enclosed by a low brick wall. Standing against the south-east side of the wall are two further memorials in the form of headstones; one to the Royal British Legion and one commemorating the planting of a neighbouring tree in 1985 by the Derby and District Far East Prisoners of War Association in memory of the many who died or suffered as a result of their experiences in the Japanese prisoner of war camps between 1942 and 1945. All these features are excluded from the listing.

This List entry has been amended to add the source for War Memorials Online. This source was not used in the compilation of this List entry but is added here as a guide for further reading, 25 January 2017.