Great Billing War Memorial

The memorial takes the form of a roadside Calvary standing on the corner of Elwes Way and High Street. Two wide, curving, steps lead up to a Calvary cross, c3.5m high, with the figure of Christ crucified under a gabled, tiled, canopy. The corpus is carved in pine, painted white, whilst the canopy is oak. At the foot of the cross shaft a small plaque bears an inscription reading: 'GREATER LOVE THAN/ THIS NO MAN HATH/ THAT A MAN LAY/ DOWN HIS LIFE/ FOR HIS FRIENDS'.

Behind the Calvary cross is a curving ironstone wall, in the centre of which is set a large Hopton stone tablet inscribed: 'THIS MEMORIAL IS ERECTED IN MEMORY OF THE MEN/ WHO SERVED IN THE WAR. 1914 TO 1918'. It lists the names of those eight who fell, grouped in the central column headed R.I.P., and also the names of all those from the village who served with a letter alongside each signifying whether they served abroad, at home, were a prisoner or were wounded. To the side of the main tablet is a smaller one recording the names of three servicemen who died in the Second World War.

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, 17 January 2017.