St Michael's, Cornhill War Memorial

The war memorial abuts the western pier of the porch of the Church of St Michael Cornhill (Grade I-listed). The pier dates from Sir George Gilbert Scott’s 1857-60 remodelling of the Wren church and forms the lowest stage of the tall Gothic tower of 1715-22.

The memorial consists of a narrow, tapering Portland stone pedestal on a deep plinth, the latter set at the height of the plinth of the adjacent Gothic porch and with a matching hollow-chamfer moulding. Above is a bronze sculptural group surmounted by the youthful figure of St Michael the Archangel, the parish church’s patron saint and symbol of the triumph of good over evil.

The Archangel, wings upstretched, holds a blazing sword aloft; below, to his right, is a pair of ferocious lions, one beast sinking its teeth into the head of the second. To his left is a cluster of four naked infants gazing upwards, seeking St Michael’s protection. In its report of the unveiling ceremony, The Times explained that St Michael was ‘repelling Strife in the form of two beasts tearing one another as they perish, and leading in Brotherhood and Love in the form of a group of children.’ (1920). The Builder noted that ‘they [the beasts] slid slowly, but surely, from their previous paramount position. Life, in the shape of young children, rises with increased confidence under the protection of the champion of right’ (1920).

Affixed to the front, a bronze tablet with sunken relief lettering reads DURING THE/ GREAT WAR/ 1914 - 1919/ THE NAMES WERE/ RECORDED ON THIS/ SITE OF 2130 MEN/ WHO FROM OFFICES/ IN THE PARISHES OF/ THIS UNITED BENEFICE/ VOLUNTEERED TO/ SERVE THEIR COUNTRY/ IN THE NAVY AND/ ARMY + OF THESE/ IT IS KNOWN THAT/ AT LEAST 170 GAVE/ THEIR LIVES FOR THE/ FREEDOM OF/ THE WORLD.

This List entry has been amended to add sources for War Memorials Online and the War Memorials Register. These sources were not used in the compilation of this List entry but are added here as a guide for further reading, 20 February 2017.