Hopwas War Memorial

A First World War memorial, made by Mitchell and Sons, Tamworth, unveiled on 12 October 1919; altered by the addition of names from the Second World War in about 1947.

MATERIALS: Peterhead granite.

DESCRIPTION: A Celtic cross with a tapering shaft, 12 feet (about 4m) high, with a shallow foot set on a tapering plinth, the whole on a three-stepped base. The head of the cross is carved with interlacing. The tapered sides of the plinth have carved laurel wreaths on consoles. The inscriptions are incised, and picked out in black lettering. The shaft is inscribed in an elaborate Gothic font THEIR / NAME / LIVETH FOR / EVERMORE. [sic]. The foot is inscribed TO THE GLORY OF GOD. The plinth is inscribed with the names and ranks of the 22 dead, and the months in which they lost their lives, below the inscription AND IN MEMORY OF THE MEN OF HOPWAS / COTON AND ALDERS, WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES IN / THE GREAT WAR FOR HONOUR AND FREEDOM. The first step of the base carries the names of the six men who fell in the Second World War, under the inscription ALSO IN MEMORY OF THOSE WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES IN WORLD WAR / 1939-1945.