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Woolton Hill

The war memorial in the village of Woolton Hill in northern Hampshire, near the county border with Berkshire, is a stone wheel cross on four-stepped octagonal base. The wheel is a laurel wreath and there are inscriptions on the top three steps commemorating the fallen of the two world wars. Behind the memorial is a screen of oak and iron rails built on a very low wall of brick with stone coping. The memorial stands in a gravelled area beside the lychgate of St. Thomas’ church behind a low post and chain fence on Church Road.

The church’s quinquennial review highlighted that the oak railings had rotted, the metal work was rusty and paint was missing and parts of the stonework were spalled. In 2005/6 English Heritage and the Wolfson Foundation gave a grant of £3,820 towards work to dismantle the existing screen, to remove paint from the metalwork and repaint it with black Hammerite, to reassemble the oak parts of the screen, using replacement wood where necessary, to fit dowels to attach the wooden parts of the screen to the wall, to remove all vegetation from the stonework, cut out and renew all damaged stone and to re-point cladding panels where necessary.

The two dedications read:

"In
grateful memory
of the men of
Woolton Hill
who gave their lives
in the Great War

And of those who fell
in the world war
1939 – 1945"

Names of the fallen of World War I are inscribed on the second step, and the dedication and names of World War II are inscribed on the third step.

The war memorial and screen were built in 1920 and were designed by Arthur Blomfield MA RIBA, presumably the son of Arthur William Blomfield who designed or restored many parish churches in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire in the 1860s/ 70s.

Further information

War Memorials Trust reference WM1351
UK National Inventory of War Memorials: 21310

War Memorials Trust has information that this memorial is listed at Grade II, but at the time of writing the listing records were not available on Heritage Gateway.

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

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