War Memorial is a Grade II listed building in the East Hertfordshire local planning authority area, England. First listed on 24 May 2004. War memorial.
War Memorial
- WRENN ID
- ancient-tin-auburn
- Grade
- II
- Local Planning Authority
- East Hertfordshire
- Constituency
- North East Hertfordshire MP: Chris Hinchliff (Lab)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 24 May 2004
- Type
- War memorial
- Address
- War Memorial, Hertingfordbury
- OS grid reference
- TL 292 117
- Coordinates
- 51.78924, -0.12783
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The war memorial, dating from around 1924, stands in Birch Green, Hertingfordbury, and is constructed of limestone ashlar. It features three octagonal steps leading to an octagonal plinth and socle. From this rises a chamfered body forming a cross, with a circular boss at the point where the arms of the cross meet the body. Swords are carved in relief on the north and south faces of the cross, with a dove in relief on the south face and a three-masted ship on the north face. The inscription "THESE DIED FOR THEIR COUNTRY IN THE GREAT WAR 1914-1919" is carved in relief at the top of the octagonal plinth, below which are the names of those who died. The memorial commemorates the deaths of the brothers Julian and William Grenfell, sons of Lord Desborough.
The memorial's design is by Sir Herbert Baker FRIBA RA, who had previously proposed a cross design for the Imperial (now Commonwealth) War Graves Commission, although a design by Sir Reginald Blomfield was ultimately chosen. Baker used variations of his cross design for several English war memorials, including this one at Hertingfordbury.
Sir Herbert Baker (1862-1946) was a significant architect who worked extensively in South Africa and India, and was a principal architect for the Imperial War Graves Commission, designing numerous war cemeteries and memorials both abroad and in England. His other works include South Africa House and Rhodes House.
The war memorial is set within a group of buildings, alongside Nos. 1 & 3, 6, 8 & 10, 12 & 14, and 24 & 26 Birch Green.
Local climate
War Memorial sits in a drier-than-average part of the UK, with an average of 710 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 88% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 84% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 33 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 55% of listed buildings. Of these, 16 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
More on this building
Sign in or create a free account to unlock:
- No EPC on record for this property
- No sale records on file
- No related consent applications matched
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
Matched applications, energy data and sale records are assembled automatically and may contain errors. Flag incorrect data.
Similar buildings
The closest matches to this building from all 493,000 UK listed buildings, by architecture, period and materials.
this building 1 similar nearby listed buildings