Sherborne Abbey First World War Memorial and Second World War Memorial Wall

A First World War memorial designed by WD Caröe, unveiled 1921. Memorial plaques by Ralph Fry added to a freestanding wall to the north, designed by Messrs Blacking and Potter, commemorate those who fell in the Second World War; eighteen civilians lost in an air raid in 1940 during the Battle of Britain; and members of the US military killed in a landmine accident nearby in 1944.

MATERIALS: Doulting stone; bronze.

DESCRIPTION: the memorial stands to the south-west of Sherborne Abbey (listed Grade I), within the abbey close. Stone steps lead up from the street level and the memorial is set within a paved area flanked by hedges and a low stone wall, set with further memorial plaques, behind to the north.

The First World War memorial comprises a hexagonal plinth with two hexagonal steps above. On the upper step are bronze plaques recording the names of the 175 who fell in the First World War. Above this is a buttressed square plinth, which rises to a square plinth set at a 45-degree angle. The plinth is surmounted with a square base with concave corners and an octagonal moulded coping; this is inscribed IN MEMORIAM 1914-1919 on both the north and south faces. Additionally, on the west side is inscribed: THEY DIED FOR FREEDOM AND HONOUR; and on the east side: GREATER LOVE HATH NO MAN THAN THIS THAT A MAN LAY DOWN HIS LIFE FOR HIS FRIENDS. The octagonal shaft rises to a pierced cross quadrate. The overall height is 25ft.

To the north of the memorial is a low stone wall, mounted to the left and middle with bronze plaques to commemorate those lost in the Second World War. To the right is a further bronze plaque inscribed THOSE WHO DIED IN THE AIR RAID / ON SHERBORNE 30 SEPTEMBER 1940 and the names of the eighteen who were killed on that day.

Below the middle Second World War plaque is a plaque inscribed: 294TH ENGINEER COMBAT BATTALION / UNITED STATES ARMY / ON MARCH 20, 1944, WHILE COMPLETING THEIR TRAINING FOR THE INVASION OF NORMANDY, 29 MEMBERS / OF C COMPANY, 294TH ENGINEER COMBAT BATTALION, WERE KILLED IN AN ANTITANK MINE EXPLOSION IN SHERBORNE. THIS PLAQUE IS DEDICATED TO THEIR MEMORY followed by the names and the date of erection, JUNE 6, 1989. A further plaque erected at the same time commemorates others from the battalion who were killed in action in the Second World War.

This list entry was subject to a Minor Amendment on 11/12/2020