Overbury and Conderton War Memorial Lych-gate

The Overbury and Conderton War Memorial Lych-gate, built in the English vernacular style, stands prominently to the south of the Grade I-listed Church of St Faith, marking the entrance to the churchyard from Church Row. The lych-gate's location creates a striking entrance from the lower street level alongside a stream, complementing the church porch and south front.

The structure features a limestone ashlar base supporting heavy timber framing, aligned longitudinally over the churchyard entrance. A chamfered base with short returns at each end includes a stone and timber bench on the east side, facing the street, while no bench exists on the west side, due to the higher ground level within the churchyard.

The stone tiled roof displays swept, overhanging eaves supported by shaped brackets. Inside, arch-braced collar trusses form round-headed archways, accompanied by smaller upper collars. The dates 1914–1918 are carved into the south collar, which also supports a carved figure of an angel holding a wreath, set within a niche formed by its wings. A carved angel with outspread wings is attached to the north collar. The east and west sides have a pair of large rectangular open panels, with reversed ogee braces in the upper corners, along with similar braces supporting the outer faces of the main posts.

Six stone steps lead up from street level to the gate on the south side, while inside the churchyard, a paved semicircle extends beyond the structure. A large, centrally-placed coffin rest, resembling a chest tomb and bearing inscriptions, is raised on the paved platform, acting as a cenotaph.

Inscriptions carved into the timbers include “GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST AND ON EARTH, PEACE, GOODWILL TOWARDS MEN” and “THROUGH THE GATE OF DEATH WE PASS TO OUR JOYFUL RESURRECTION”. The principal dedicatory inscription on the south face of the coffin rest reads "REMEMBER THE/ OVERBURY AND/ CONDERTON MEN/ WHO GAVE THEIR/ LIVES IN THE/ GREAT WAR THAT/ HONOUR JUSTICE/ AND LOVE SHOULD/ RULE MANKIND/ SEE TO IT YE LIVING THAT YE HERE DEDICATE/ YOUR LIVES TO THE CAUSE FOR/ WHICH THEY DIED.”

The north face of the coffin rest bears a quotation from William Blake’s poem ‘Jerusalem’: "I WILL NOT CEASE/ FROM MENTAL FIGHT/ NOR SHALL MY SWORD/ SLEEP IN MY HAND/ TILL WE HAVE BUILT/ JERUSALEM/ IN ENGLANDS GREEN/ AND PLEASANT LAND.” Commemorated names, with rank and regiment or unit, are incised into the east and west faces of the coffin rest. A tablet within the lych-gate wall records the names of those who died in the Second World War.