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Wrestlingworth

The war memorial in the east Bedfordshire village of Wrestlingworth is a granite Celtic cross on a double plinth and a square cement base. On the front of the higher plinth are a dedication and names in raised lead lettering. It stands in the churchyard of St Peter’s on Church Lane.

The base of the cross had been rendered in the past to cover deterioration, but it was now cracked, allowing ingress of water, and the joint between the cross and the plinth had deteriorated, so only the dowel was holding the cross in place. In 2005/6 English Heritage and the Wolfson Foundation offered a grant of £889 towards work to clean the memorial using water and biocide, to rake out and re-point defective joints using lime mortar, to lift the shaft from the memorial and investigate the dowel, replacing it with a stainless steel one if it was made of iron, replace and re-bed the shaft of the cross in lime mortar, replace two missing lead letters, remove the cement render on the base, repair the underlying cement and reinstate a lime render.

The dedication on the memorial reads

"In memory of the men of this parish
who made the supreme sacrifice in
the war 1914 – 1918

Edward Bates         William Blott
Hubert Brim            Herbert Brooker
Frank Chessum       Harold Chessum
Thomas Chessum    Edwin Endersby
Percy Huckle         William Ingrey
Albert Medlock       Frederick Medlock
Alfred Medlock       Frederick Newell
          George       Warren

and
1939 – 1945
Albert Bartle
John Watts"

The memorial was unveiled by Lady Delia Peel in May 1922 and dedicated by Rev R J Bagshaw. It was designed by A Hunt, monumental mason of Sandy. The planners went ahead without diocesan approval, for the Celtic cross was not deemed appropriate for the Church of England, and the use the use of granite not appropriate for the area – the Diocesan Advisory Committee recommended a cross in oak or chestnut – but their response was not delivered until the 13th July, nearly two months after the cross had been unveiled. After World War II, two more names were added to the memorial.

Further information

War Memorials Trust reference WM1540
UK National Inventory of War Memorials: 1844

If you have a concern about this memorial please contact the Trust on conservation@warmemorials.org

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