Brewood War Memorial, in the churchyard of St Mary the Virgin and St Chad's Church

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BREWOOD CHURCH ROAD Brewood War Memorial, in the churchyard of St Mary the Virgin and St Chad's Church 11-JAN-07

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War memorial by W D Caröe 1920-1. Stone in gothic style. Latin gabled cross with crocketed braces upon tall (c.5m) tapering hexagonal shaft. There is a relief of St George and the dragon in a niche on the south face of the shaft. The shaft terminates in three courses of weathering upon a square pedestal with rounded offsets to the corners. The inscription around the square base is in a Celtic font in bas relief and reads as follows: East face: TO THE MEMORY OF THE MEN; North face: OF BREWOOD WHO FELL IN THE; West face: GREAT WAR 1914-1918; South face: THEIR NAME LIVETH FOR EVERMORE. The hexagonal step below carries the names of the dead of WWI. The middle step carries the later inscription, in a similar font to that above, AND IN THE WAR/1939-1946 across the south east corner with the names below.

HISTORY: A church committee was appointed early in 1920 with an aim to raise £400 by subscription for the erection of a memorial to the dead of Brewood from WWI. The cross was designed by William Douglas Caröe (1857-1938), Senior Architect to the Church Commissioners in England from 1895. Clary and Wright of Ipswich were commissioned as the chief masons, although J E Tylerson of London produced the relief of St George. Excess funds were spent on memorial jars to be placed around the cross. The cross was unveiled in 1921.

SOURCES: Documentation of Brewood War Memorial 1920-1923. D6094/8/4/11. Staffordshire County Archive.

Summary of Importance: War memorials are highly significant commemorative structures with a strong historical and cultural connection to many small communities across the country. This stone cross stands as an arresting monument within the churchyard of St Mary and St Chad, commemorating the dead of Brewood from both World Wars. It has good group value with the Grade I church and numerous listed monuments within the churchyard.

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, 19 January 2017.