War Memorials Trust
 

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St James' Church, Berwick St James

Town or City: Salisbury
County: Wiltshire
Country: England
WMT Reference Number: WM3671

Value of grant: £598.00
Type of memorial: Non-Freestanding
Type of work: Conservation and repair
Grant scheme: Small Grants Scheme
Year: 2010

UKNIWM reference number: 000000

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The memorial plaques before the project © S J D Bush, 2010This memorial is located on the south facing wall within St James’ Church, Berwick St James. The memorial is composed of two brass plaques mounted on oak boards. On the plaque which commemorates the First World War the internal brass plate details the names of the fallen, and the outer brass plaque has decorative elements and the dates “1914 1918”. The second plaque commemorates those killed in the Second World War and Korean War and is of a simpler design with the names of the fallen on the brass plaque and mounted on the oak board. The Church is Grade I listed.

The damage to the plaques from bat droppings is evident © S J D Bush, 2009In 2010, War Memorials Trust gave a grant of £598 towards conservation and repair works to the memorial. These works were to address damage to the brass elements by bat droppings and urine from within the Church. This had reached the extent that normal cleaning could not remove the stains and corrosion. Therefore, the plaques were removed and the brass was cleaned using wet and dry sanding pads and waxed to provide a protective coating. The oak backing boards also required attention as there were a number of splits in the wood and areas where the joints had come apart. These boards were cleaned and waxed and the joints were re-assembled using traditional methods and animal glue. Any splits in the wood were repaired using animal glue and dowelling.

The memorial after cleaning and with a new protective shelf © S J D Bush, 2010In addition to these works, some preventative conservation was undertaken in the form of the installation a simple oak shelf above the memorial. As the bats cannot be removed from the Church the droppings and urine will be an ongoing problem, therefore hopefully this reversible measure will aid to protect the memorial from this issue in the future. Although the Church is listed, after consultation with the Archdeacon a faculty was not required for the grant works.

A faculty was applied for to the Diocese of Salisbury for the installation of a war memorial in the church on 19th September 1919, for an expected cost of £33.

The inscriptions on the plaques read:

“In memory of the men of this
Parish who gave their lives in the War
Col. Segt. Frank Cecil Blanchard
Lance Corpl. Frank George Brice
Gunner William Draper
‘ ‘ Leonard Humphries
Pte. William Arthur Elliott Witchell
‘ ‘ Herbert Cyril Smith
1914 Their name liveth for evermore 1918”

“And in memory of
R. A. Saunderson 1939-1945
J. F. D. Kilburn 1949-1950”

Further information

War Memorials Trust reference WM3671
UK National Inventory of War Memorials: 000000

War Memorials Online

The National Heritage List for England 

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

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