War Memorial in the Grounds of the Church of St John the Baptist

War Memorial in the grounds of the Church of St John the Baptist, Berkswell

This war memorial commemorates the dead of both world wars. Designed by Sir Charles Nicholson, with D French as mason, the monument was dedicated in 1920. It stands at the eastern end of the graveyard of the Church of St John the Baptist.

The building is constructed of red sandstone and takes the form of an open shrine with an altar shelf on the eastern interior wall. It is square on plan with chamfered corners. A plinth with an offset girds the base, and a battlemented parapet tops the walls. The corners rise as square piers above the roof, finished with brattished cresting.

The eastern wall is blank. The other three walls each have doorways with tracery surrounds, above which a heavy hood mould links across the fronts. Above the doors are inscribed words: 'IN MEMORIAM 1914.1918' on the north front with a laurel wreath in relief above; 'SO GOD LOVED THE WORLD THAT' on the west front with a crowned rose above; and 'HE GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON' on the south side with the initials 'I.M' and the dates 1914-1918 above. A paved platform surrounds the building.

Inside, the space is groin vaulted with chamfered ribs. The altar shelf on the eastern wall is backed by two niches with ogee heads. These hold kneeling devotional figures in high relief: St George on the left and St Nicholas on the right. Between them stands the figure of Christ on the cross. The names of those who fell in the First World War are inscribed on the corner piers, grouped by year of death. The fallen of the Second World War are grouped under a single heading.

Sir Charles Nicholson was one of the foremost church architects of the early twentieth century. He had been articled to John Dando Sedding and worked in partnership with Henry Wilson. His other works include the restoration of the towers at Lincoln Cathedral from 1921-1922 and the Church of St Paul, Yelverton, Devon (1910-1914). The memorial was unveiled by Lord Methuen and dedicated by Canon Black at a ceremony in 1920.