Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Memorial listed to protect it as a witness to conflicts’ toll
Canterbury’s city centre war memorial has been Grade IIlisted.
English Heritage awarded the special protection status to the monument for its importance historically and architecturally.
Unveiled in The Buttermarket by Field Marshal Earl Haig on October 21, 1921, it is an impressive Doulting stone runic cross on a tapering square pillar.
Distinguished architect Prof Arthur Beresford Pite was its designer, with figurative carvings by the sculptor Benjamin Clemens.
It is “an eloquent witness to the tragic impact of world events on the community and the sacrifices it made in the conflicts”, English Heritage says.
The citation also notes the monument is unaltered, retaining its sculpted detail, and is in the historic centre of Canterbury surrounded by listed buildings.
The memorial was built in remembrance of the men from Canterbury who lost their lives in the First World War, and was dedicated at its unveiling by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev Randall Davidson.
Among the names listed is Major Edward ‘Mick’ Mannock, who won the Military Cross twice and the Distinguished Service Order three times. He died in battle in 1918 and was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross. Names of those who died in the Second World War were added.
The memorial was vandalised and repaired in 1981 and underwent refurbishment in 2007.
It is among 68 memorials across the South East to receive the special protection, including one in the former mining village of Tilmanstone.
Sited in Upper Street, the latter was unveiled on October 9, 1921, and is described as a simple yet striking memorial cross in Portland stone.
It again has been selected for its historical importance and significance and bears the names of eight men from the village who gave their lives in the First World War.
The memorial is a Cross of Sacrifice, a design by Sir Reginald Blomfield widely incorporated in Imperial (later Commonwealth) War Graves Commission cemeteries and for town and village memorials.
It was unveiled by Vice-admiral (later Admiral of the Fleet) Sir Roger John Brownlow Keyes and also dedicated by the Archbishop Randall Davidson.
English Heritage says it wants the Grade Ii-listed status to be eventually bestowed on all 2,500 memorials across the country by 2018.