The Hewetson Memorial Cross at Fargo Plantation, and Field Plaque at SU13784399

This record comprises a free-standing memorial cross, close to Stonehenge, and a separate field plaque to the north-east of the cross, positioned to the south of The Packway, and in the environs of the Larkhill Garrison.

The memorial cross stands on the north side of the ex-A344 at the south-east corner of Fargo Plantation, on land bought for the National Trust by national appeal and given on 10 June 1929. It is c1.3km to the east of Airmen’s Cross, the Grade II-listed memorial to Captain Eustace Loraine and Staff Sergeant Richard Wilson who were killed in a flying accident on 5 July 1912. Hewetson’s memorial takes the form of a tall stone Celtic cross with hemispherical bosses on each cross arm and at the centre of the wheel-head. The cross rises from a plinth, square on plan, which stands on the two-stepped base. The memorial is surrounded by a small square area, kerbed and surfaced with gravel.

The inscription, incised into a slate tablet on the front face of the plinth, reads IN MEMORY/ OF/ MAJOR ALEXANDER WILLIAM HEWETSON/ 66TH BATTERY ROYAL FIELD ARTILLERY/ WHO WAS KILLED WHILST FLYING/ ON THE 17TH JULY 1913 NEAR THIS SPOT.

The memorial plaque is positioned beside the bridleway south of The Packway, c300m south-east of the Church of St Alban the Martyr (Grade II), on Ministry of Defence land, and c650m to the north-west of the Grade II*-listed Buildings 455 And 456 (Five Aircraft Hangars), Durrington Camp. A depiction of the memorial cross c2.8km to the south-west is carved in low relief on the upper section of the field plaque, with below a tablet that replicates the cross’s dedicatory inscription.