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Wendover
Town or City: Wendover
County: Buckinghamshire
Country: England
WMT Reference Number: WM247
Value of grant: £875.00
Type of memorial: Freestanding
Type of work: Conservation and repair
Grant scheme: English Heritage/Wolfson Foundation Grants
Year: 2004
UKNIWM reference number: 50276
The war memorial in the market town of Wendover at the foot of the Chiltern Hills in Buckinghamshire is a Chilmark stone lantern cross with eight small crocketed pinnacles on a slim pillar. It stands on a square plinth on a three-stepped octagonal brick and stone base. The names of the fallen are inscribed around the faces of the plinth. The memorial is situated on a brick paved area on Manor Waste on the High Street behind a low post and chain fence.
In 2004/5 English Heritage and the Wolfson Foundation offered a grant of £875 towards work to remove previous cement repairs, to rake out and re-point joints, to poultice the lantern to remove black calcium sulphate deposits, to treat the memorial with biocide and to remove lichens that had grown over the lettering.
In 2017 War Memorials Trust offered a grant of £1,570 towards the undertaking of conservation works to clean the memorial using a combination of natural bristle brushes and low pressure water and selected areas of steam cleaning. In addition, loose and failing mortar was raked-out from the memorials joints and joints were repointed using a lime mortar. Consolidative repairs using lime mortar were carried out to the memorial’s shaft. The inscriptions to the memorial were also repainted.
The names of the fallen of two world wars are inscribed around the plinth with the dates of the conflicts inscribed on the quoins at the corners.
The memorial was designed by Gerard Cogswell and built in 1922 on land donated by the lord of the manor. It was unveiled by the Cecilia Margaret Wynn Carrington, Marchioness of Lincolnshire, wife of the Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire. Their only son had fallen at Ypres.
The names of the fallen of World War II were added in June 1948 and the memorial was re-dedicated in the presence of Air Commodore J F Titmuss.
Further information
War Memorials Trust reference WM247
UK National Inventory of War Memorials: 50276
The Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire unveiled WM2319 on which his son, Viscount Wendover, is commemorated.
If you have a concern about this memorial please contact the Trust on conservation@warmemorials.org
