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Castle Donington
Town or City: Castle Donington
County: Leicestershire
Country: England
WMT Reference Number: WM3553
Value of grant: £341.00
Type of memorial: Freestanding
Type of work: Conservation and repair
Grant scheme: Small Grants Scheme
Year: 2010
UKNIWM reference number: 37845
Castle Donington war memorial stands on the High Street in a conservation area. The calvary includes a limestone figure of Christ beneath a timber gable. A limestone tablet carries the inscription with bronze plaques detailing the names of the fallen on the flanking walls.
In 2010, a grant of £341 was made from the Small Grants Scheme towards conservation works to the memorial. This included raking out the defective pointing on the landings, steps and risers and re-pointing with a specified lime mortar. It is important that joints remain pointed as otherwise additional water can enter the structure and cause damage, and in the winter months this water can freeze. When the water freezes it expands in the amount of space it takes up and therefore cracks the stone due to this exerted force and can have devastating results. This is particularly important in this case as the joints on the surrounding paving and steps are very large. The appearance of new lime mortar is more obvious when it has been applied, but this colour will tone down and become more harmonious with the stonework aesthetically as it matures over time. The timber of the pitched roof was treated with a timber preservative, and new lead capping was fixed to the ridges of the roof as water was entering under and between the slates.
The Parish Council also decided to have the limestone plaque cleaned and the lettering re-painted, but these works were not included in the grant.
The memorial was erected after World War I and records the fallen of both World War I and II.
The inscriptions carried are:
On the timber gableboard it reads: “They loved not their lives unto the death”
On the front of the memorial it reads:
“Ye who pass by, remember before God the
gallant dead whose names are written
here, though many lie in other lands
they fell in the great war of 1914-1919.
"The men were very good unto us, and we were not hurt.
They were a wall unto us both by night and day"”
Further information
War Memorials Trust reference WM3553
UK National Inventory of War Memorials: 37845
If you have a concern about this memorial please contact the Trust on conservation@warmemorials.org
