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Burwell

The memorial is a fixture in the south aisle of the Church of St Mary the Virgin; a Grade I listed building. It consists of a gabled wooden plaque supported by plain pilasters on the sides. The principal feature of the plaque is a depiction of the crucifixion of Christ; the cross shaft divides vertically the plaque to form two panels inscribed as rolls of honour. The lettering on the main panels is in black, with that on the smaller panels at the bottom in gold. Beneath the plaque is a tripartite plinth made of Ketton stone, the central portion of which protrudes slightly. The centre panel is inscribed as a roll of honour with dedicatory inscriptions on the outer panels. The floor paving of the aisle in the immediate vicinity of the memorial is associated and laid as part of the memorial and has an inscription highlighting this. Lettering on the stone surfaces is in black.

In 2010, a grant of £200 was offered through the Small Grants Scheme towards the addition of plaques to record the names of those who had been missed off the original memorial and to subsequent conflicts; including that of a soldier killed in Afghanistan in January 2010. This work consisted of the addition of two English oak panels in the style of the original and mounted one either side of the existing panel with non-ferrous fixings. Names were sign-written in black to match the existing in font, style and format.

In 2018 War Memorials Trust paid a grant of £6,200 towards conservation and repair works to the base of the memorial which had become badly eroded from historic water ingress.

In March 1920 a faculty was obtained to place the memorial, which may have originally been located elsewhere in the Church, in the south aisle. A second faculty was obtained in 1948 for the addition of the World War Two commemoration to the memorial; this being undertaken by Messrs Ivett and Read of Cambridge.

The new panels were dedicated during a service held on 16th October 2011 when the panels were formally unveiled. The dedication was performed by the Archdeacon of Cambridge, the Venerable John Beer. The service was attended by some two-hundred people, including family members of those named on the new panels.

The small plate on the upper arm of the cross bears the inscription “INRI”.

Both of the main panels of the plaque bear the names of thirty-one men who were killed during the First World War. The names are annotated with their regiment, corps or arm of Service, and ranks for officers, and except for a few exceptions are listed chronologically by date of death from top to bottom, left to right.

The bottom of the plaque is inscribed:

“They died that
we might live”

The smaller left panel bears the inscription:

“Eternal rest
grant unto them
O Lord”

Whilst the smaller right panel continues:

“and let light
perpetual shine
upon them”

The centre panel of the stone plinth is headed “1939 – 1945” beneath which are the names of twenty-four men killed during World War Two; again, annotated with their regiment, corps or arm of Service.

To the left of this is the inscription:

“In
honoured memory
of the men
of this parish
who
gave their lives
in the Second
World War”

The right of the plinth is inscribed:

“May
the living
never fail
to render
to God
and to their fellows
service demanding
sacrifice”

The panel in the floor reads:

“This floor was laid and the names
inscribed above as a memorial to
those who died in the war of 1939-1945”

The new panel mounted to the left of the original is inscribed:

“Post inscriptum
1914-1918” 

Beneath this are the names of eleven men killed in the First World War; with ranks included.

Underneath these names is inscribed “1939-1945” followed by one Serviceman (rank given) and one civilian who died during World War Two.

The new panel mounted to the right of the original bears the inscription:

“Died while serving
their country”

The names of four men are commemorated, with ranks annotated; one killed during the Korean War in 1951, one serving with the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) in 1955, one serving with the Royal Air Force in 1961 and the last (and most recent) killed in Afghanistan in 2010.

Further information

War Memorials Trust reference WM3948
UK National Inventory of War Memorials: 000000

War Memorials Online: 138056

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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