Bishops Cannings War Memorial

The memorial stands in the western part of the churchyard of the Church of St Mary the Virgin (Grade I) in a prominent location adjacent to the main road. It is in close proximity to a number of listed churchyard monuments and nearby dwellings.

The war memorial comprises a 3.6m tall stone wheel-head cross in the Celtic style set at the top of a slender cross shaft, rectangular in section. The face of the cross head is decorated with a relief-carved cross crosslet. The top and bottom of the shaft are decorated with panels of Celtic interlace to the front and rear faces: the sides of the upper panel are moulded, forming a type of collar or support for the cross head. The edges of the cross shaft are picked out by a carved rope decoration.

The cross shaft is set on a tapered pedestal with a chamfered top, the top edge of which is also decorated with a relief-carved angular key design. The four faces of the pedestal bear black-painted inscriptions and names. The monument stands on a square base with a chamfered top.

The principal dedicatory inscription on the west face of the pedestal reads TO THE GLORY OF GOD/ AND IN MEMORY/ OF THOSE FROM THIS PARISH/ WHO FELL IN THE GREAT WAR/ 1914-1918. The names of the 23 fallen are listed by name, rank and date of death on the north and south faces of the pedestal. The east face of the pedestal bears the names of the two local servicemen who died during the Second World War, again including their rank and date of death, reading 1939-1945/ (2 NAMES).