War Memorial

War Memorial

This granite war memorial was erected around 1920 in memory of the men from the parish of Pinxton who were killed in the First World War. It stands in the graveyard of St Helen's Church.

The memorial is accessed by three octagonal steps leading to an octagonal plinth. Modern metal plaques are attached to each side of the plinth, replicating carved inscriptions underneath. Above the plinth rises a tapering octagonal shaft delicately carved with bands of leaves and traceried Gothic niches. The shaft is topped with a square capital bearing a raised 'IHS' Christogram in Gothic lettering on the side facing the church. A foliated and chamfered Latin cross crowns the structure.

The plaque on the side facing the church reads: 'IN GRATEFUL MEMORY OF THE MEN FROM THIS PARISH WHO FELL IN THE GREAT WAR. 1914-1919 "AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN AND IN THE MORNING WE WILL REMEMBER".' The remaining seven sides of the plinth carry plaques listing the ranks and names of the fallen, organised by regiment: Notts and Derby Regiment (17 names), Leicester Regiment (4), Lincolnshire Regiment (4), Royal Welsh Fusiliers (13), Royal Fusiliers (2), Northumberland Fusiliers (4), Kings Royal Rifles (2), Royal Warwickshire (2), Royal Field Artillery (3), Canadians (2), Irish Guards (1), Grenadier Guards (3), Royal Engineers (2), and other regiments (12).

Two three-sided stone walls enclose the octagonal space around the memorial, rising at the north and south ends. Metal plaques replicating inscriptions on stone plaques underneath are attached to the sides facing the church. One is dedicated to those who fell in 1939-1945, inscribed 'FALLEN IN THE CAUSE OF THE FREE', and another to those who died in 1918-1939 and 1945 onwards, inscribed 'LEST WE FORGET, ALL THOSE WHO HAVE FALLEN TELL THEM OF US'. These walls were erected sometime after 1945.