War Memorial at Holbeach St Mark's

The war memorial at Holbeach St Mark's was erected around 1919 to commemorate the men from the parish of Holbeach Marsh who died in the First World War, with later inscriptions added for those who died in the Second World War. It is constructed from granite. The memorial consists of an obelisk placed on a moulded block with gablets on four sides, rising from a square plinth. The front of the plinth features a relief of a laurel wreath encircling the dates '1914 1918'. Below the relief is a dedication in Gothic script reading: 'To The Glory Of God / And in Memory of the Men / of this Parish / Who fell in the Great War.' The other three sides of the plinth list the names of 35 men who died in WWI in Gothic script, with the capital letters illuminated in red. Two square steps, inscribed on the front '1939-1945', sit below the plinth and list the names of 5 men who died in WWII using Gothic script. The steps rest on a square stone base. The memorial occupies a triangular piece of land that was formerly part of the churchyard of St Mark's Church, as shown on Ordnance Survey maps from 1888 and 1905. The memorial is designated at Grade II for its poignant reminder of the impact of the World Wars on the local community, its statuesque presence, the smooth working of the granite, and the finely-detailed Gothic script of the inscriptions. It has group value with the nearby Church of St Mark by Ewan Christian.