War Memorial

1158/0/10003 11-NOV-09

DUNTON BASSETT CHURCH LANE War Memorial

II

War Memorial erected in 1920. Stone and a plinth of Leicestershire granite quarried locally at Croft.

DESCRIPTION: A Celtic wheel cross upon a tapering shaft by Kelly and Co of London. The cross sits on a plinth of stone. The Memorial is set in a recess of the Vicarage wall with short stone bollards linked by a chain in front of the cross. An inscription on the front face reads TO THE/MEMORYOF/OUR FALLEN,/GREAT WAR/1914-1919/ERECTED/BY PEOPLE/OF THIS VILLAGE/ (NAMES). A plaque of local stone on the rear wall of the site commemorates those who lost their lives in World War II. The inscription reads THE WORLD WAR/1939-1945/ (NAMES). An additional inscription was added to the plinth of the memorial to commemorate a life lost in the Malaya Emergency.

HISTORY: The memorial was erected in 1920 with money raised by donation and events organised in the village and with the support of a local landowner, Major H H Robertson Aikman. His wife formally unveiled the monument on 24 January 1920. The memorial commemorates those who lost their lives in both world wars and a life lost in the Malaya Emergency. In 2008 the memorial was cleaned and the lettering re-gilded.

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION DECISION This war memorial is designated at Grade II, for the following principal reasons:

• It is an important reminder of nationally and internationally significant events.
• The cross and enclosing wall is a good example of an architecturally distinct tribute to the fallen of two world wars.
• Its special historical interest is enhanced by the rare addition of a commemoration of a life lost in the Malaya Emergency.

SOURCES UK National Inventory of War Memorials, ref. 37780 - available at http://www.ukniwm.org.uk

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 October 2017.