Monckton War Memorial In All Saints Churchyard

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MILL STREET Monckton War Memorial in All Saints Churchyard

27-APR-10

GV II War memorial. Portland stone. 1918

DESCRIPTION: Built of Portland stone, the memorial takes the form of a tall octagonal shaft topped with an ornate cross with elaborate tracery and carved terminals. Below the cross is a hexagonal moulded collar and below this, mounted on projecting plinths, are four medieval style figures representing: a knight with shield; a king; a warrior with spear; and a Madonna and child. The shaft sits on an octagonal plinth resting on a three step octagonal base. The inscription, in a Gothic script, runs in an incised band round the base and reads: THIS CROSS WAS ERECTED AND/ DEDICATED 1918/ TO THE GLORY OF GOD/ IN PERPETUAL AND GRATEFUL/ MEMORY OF MAIDSTONE MEN/ WHO IN THE GREAT WAR 1914-1919/ GAVE THEIR LIVES FOR THE EMPIRE/ "TRUE LOVE BY LIFE TRUE LOVE BY DEATH IS TRIED LIVE THOU FOR ENGLAND WE FOR ENGLAND DIED". The memorial is located in a prominent setting in the churchyard of All Saints Church, just to the east of the church and visible from Mill Street.

HISTORY: The Monckton war memorial is unusual in that it was erected in 1918 by a member of a prominent local family, probably Herbert Monckton who had been the Town Clerk of Maidstone and in 1915 had advocated recreational trips on the Medway for the large numbers of invalid soldiers in the town. It is a private memorial to the citizens of Maidstone who died in World War I, rather than the more usual civic-funded memorials erected by communities. As such it bears an inscription but not the names of the fallen. The designer is currently unknown although it was dedicated by Archbishop Randall Davidson.

SOURCES: United Kingdom National Inventory of War Memorials Ref: 32523

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION: The Monckton War Memorial is designated at Grade II, for the following principal reasons: * as an eloquent witness to the tragic impact of world events on this Kentish town; * as an privately commissioned memorial by a prominent local citizen in remembrance of his fellows rather than the more usual communal memorial; * as an elaborate and well executed example of the widely erected market cross style of First World War memorial; * for group value with the Grade I listed All Saints Church. TQ7603355430

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, 30 November 2016.