Lutterworth War Memorial Cross, Walls and Shelter

First World War memorial cross, walls and shelter, erected in 1921, with later plaques for the Second World War and subsequent conflicts.

MATERIALS: the cross is constructed of stone; and the walls and shelter of red brick laid in English bond, the latter with a slate roof covering laid in diminishing courses.

PLAN: the memorial is located within the Memorial Gardens at the corner of Church Street and George Street. The memorial cross sits at the meeting of four paved paths at the centre of the garden. The shelter occupies the north-east corner and is flanked by walls along the north and east sides of the garden, that on the east side is built up against the end wall of 24 Church Street.

EXTERIOR: the memorial cross consists of a Latin cross on a fluted tapering shaft which rises from a square plinth on a two-stepped base. The south-west face of the plinth is incised TO THE/ GLORY/ OF/ GOD and the north-east face is incised TO THE/ UNRETURNING/ BRAVE with a tablet bearing four names of those who died in later conflicts. On the south-east face of the plinth the words REMEMBER 1914-1918 in raised lettering is above a large plaque with the words IN MEMORY OF/ THOSE WHO DIED FOR US followed by the names of the fallen. The north-west face is similar except it has the date 1939-1945. The memorial is surrounded by iron railings.

The single-storey memorial shelter has a steeply pitched, hexagonal hipped roof. It is open-fronted on three sides with brick piers at each corner rising above eaves level. These have pilasters on their inner faces with moulded stone capitals. The central open bay has a tall triangular gable with moulded stone coping and a decorative panel in the gable head with tiles laid on edge in a chevron pattern. Below, the Gothic arch opening is embellished with alternating tile creasing between the bricks, and an openwork metal band bearing the words WE WILL REMEMBER THEM. The flanking piers have small recessed panels at the top with tile creasing detailing. The floor of the shelter is laid with large tiles in a geometric pattern, also embellished with tile creasing in a diamond and chevron pattern. The rear wall bears a plaque in the same style as those on the memorial with the words IN MEMORY OF THOSE WHO DIED FOR USE 1914-1918 followed by the names of the fallen. On the right hand side there is a plank door with long strap hinges and a soldier arch brick lintel.

Extending from the south and west corners of the shelter are pier-and-panel walls with the same moulded coping as the gable. The piers have small panels of tile creasing. The walls are slightly staggered to take into account the ground that slopes downwards from the north-east corner. Numerous plaques commemorating various later events have been added to the walls.

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, 10 January 2018.