Hitchin War Memorial is a Grade II listed building in the North Hertfordshire local planning authority area, England. First listed on 11 July 2017. War memorial.

Hitchin War Memorial

WRENN ID
north-lancet-torch
Grade
II
Local Planning Authority
North Hertfordshire
Constituency
Hitchin MP: Alistair Strathern (Lab)
Country
England
Date first listed
11 July 2017
Type
War memorial
Address
Hitchin War Memorial, St Mary's Churchyard, Churchyard, SG5 1HR
OS grid reference
TL 184 291
Coordinates
51.94779, -0.27791
Source
Historic England listing

Also on this page: flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

The Hitchin War Memorial is a First World War memorial designed by Walter Millard and was erected in 1922, with additional names added after 1945.

Carved from Portland stone, the memorial is located in front of St Mary’s Church, occupying the south-west corner of the churchyard. It features a cross on a raised base, positioned in front of a battlemented screen. The wheel-headed cross is mounted on a tall octagonal shaft, which is set upon an octagonal base that displays a shield with the cross of St George and has a crenellated moulding at the top. This base rests on a taller octagonal plinth with a projecting moulding at the top. The front of the frieze bears an inscription in raised capitals that reads: TO THE UNCONQUERED DEAD 1914 1919.

Surrounding each face of the base are added Portland stone panels; seven of these panels list names in single columns, while the front (south-west) panel features a relief of a wreath of poppies above the inscription WE WILL REMEMBER THEM, which lists the dead of the Second World War and includes a reference to ALL OTHER SERVICEMEN KILLED IN ACTION at the end of the names. The entire structure is set on a two-stage lower base.

The cross is enclosed, with the front screened by a low wrought iron gate and railings. The sides and rear of the enclosure consist of a five-sided Portland stone battlemented screen with square piers on either side. Within this screen are eleven panels, each containing a single column of names commemorating the dead of the First World War.

Local climate

Hitchin War Memorial sits in a drier-than-average part of the UK, with an average of 720 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 82% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 76% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 35 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 60% of listed buildings. Of these, 17 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.

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