Reculver War Memorial

The Reculver War Memorial was erected in 1919. Located on the edge of St Mary the Virgin churchyard, it stands next to the road between Hillborough and Reculver, approximately 30 meters from the west end of the church. The memorial takes the form of a tall, roughly hewn granite stone set on a similarly rough-hewn rectangular granite plinth, facing northwest across the road. A low, semi-circular rustic stone wall surrounds the stone on the graveyard side. A carved Latin cross sits directly below the slightly curved top of the memorial, above a large, incised rectangular panel containing the inscription: "THIS STONE / WAS ERECTED BY THE PARISHIONERS OF / RECULVER IN MEMORY OF THE MEN / CONNECTED WITH THIS PARISH / WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES FOR THEIR COUNTRY / IN THE GREAT WAR 1914-1918 // GREATER LOVE HATH NO MAN THAN THIS / THAT A MAN LAY DOWN HIS LIFE / FOR HIS FRIENDS." Below this are the names of 18 individuals who died in World War I, divided by service (Navy and Army) with surname, year of death, and ship or regiment. Further inscriptions, added below the 1914-1918 commemoration, list the surnames and years of death of 9 individuals who died in World War II, divided by service (Royal Navy, Merchant Navy, Royal Air Force, Airborne Division). The inscriptions were renewed in 1994. The memorial commemorates the impact of both World Wars on the local community and has group value with the listed Church of St Mary the Virgin. Its robust simplicity is accentuated by its prominent location on the edge of the churchyard, looking out across fields towards the sea.