Shotesham War Memorial

The Shotesham War Memorial, designed by Henry Leicester Hicks, was erected in 1920 as a tribute to the men of Shotesham who lost their lives in the First World War. Constructed from stone set upon a base of flint and brick, the memorial comprises a tall, tapered, octagonal cross. The top and ends of the cross’s arms are foliated. The shaft rises from a square plinth, with inscriptions on two faces; the north west face reads "In proud remembrance of the Shotesham men who gave their lives in the Great War 1914-1919." The plinth stands upon three octagonal steps, each face bearing an inscribed name. The octagonal base is of flint with brick quoins and coping.

The memorial’s creation followed a proposal in October 1919 at a meeting of relatives of Shotesham soldiers who died in the war. Plans drawn up by the architect Henry Leicester Hicks of Newcastle-upon-Tyne were approved by the Parochial Church Council on January 22, 1920, and the memorial was dedicated on September 5, 1920, funded by public subscription. Recent conservation work, supported by grants from the English Heritage/Wolfson Foundation, involved rebuilding the flint and brick base and removing verdigris that had obscured the inscriptions.

Henry Leicester Hicks (1881 or 1882-1947) worked in partnership with George Edward Charlewood in Newcastle and is responsible for the design of 24 listed churches, including restorations and new buildings. The Church of St Luke in Thornaby, Co Durham (1904) is a Grade II* listed building attributed to them.