Memorial To Violet Charlotte Johnson Mbe In Stockbridge Cemetery

Stone Memorial Cross to Violet Charlotte Johnson MBE in Stockbridge Cemetery

This is a stone memorial cross erected in 1923 by Herbert Johnson, a financier, to commemorate his wife Violet Charlotte Johnson MBE. The memorial was designed by the celebrated architect Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens.

The memorial consists of a stone cross mounted on an elegant slender and tapering hexagonal shaft with a stepped hexagonal base. The upper two sections of the base are inscribed on the three westerly-facing sides. The cross itself is four-pointed and hexagonal in section, draped with a carved stone wreath.

The inscriptions read as follows. The upper section states: "Sacred to the memory of Violet Charlotte Johnson MBE a gracious lady of England / Beloved of all who knew her for her rare qualities of heart and mind endowed with every / capacity for the enjoyment of life, she gave herself to the service of others and her solicitude / during the Great War for the wounded soldiers in her hospitals at Marsh Court and / Stockbridge contributed to her untimely end". The middle section reads: "Erected by her husband Herbert Johnson Esq. of Marsh Court". The lower section bears the inscription: "The souls of the righteous are in the hand of God / Dedicated 5th August 1923".

The memorial forms the focal point of Winton Hill cemetery, positioned at the east end of the single avenue.

Violet Johnson was awarded an MBE for her services caring for wounded soldiers during the First World War. She was associated with hospitals at both Stockbridge and at Marsh Court in the neighbouring parish of Kings Somborne. Although it is assumed she is buried in the cemetery, this has not been confirmed.

Lutyens had strong connections with Stockbridge and the Johnson family. In 1921 he designed the village war memorial at the foot of Winton Hill (Grade II listed). He also designed and built Marsh Court for Herbert and Violet Johnson in 1901–05, subsequently extending it in 1924–26. Marsh Court, now known as Marshcourt School, is Grade I listed. Lutyens was knighted in 1918 for his work in Delhi, where he advised on the planning of the new capital and designed government buildings and the Viceroy's House, and for his unpaid work with the Imperial War Graves Commission, through which he was responsible for 126 war cemeteries in Europe. Among his most famous works is the Cenotaph in Whitehall, London, designed in 1919 and Grade I listed. Lutyens was also well known for his country house designs, many created in collaboration with the distinguished garden designer Gertrude Jekyll.