Listed Building: St Mary's Church War Memorial, Buxton (1436521)

'Summary First World War memorial, unveiled in the 1920s. Reasons for Designation St Mary's Church War Memorial, Buxton, erected in the 1920s, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons: * Historic interest: as an eloquent witness to the tragic impact of world events on this local community, and the sacrifice it has made in the First World War; * Architectural interest: an elegant canopied crucifix memorial; * Group value: with the broadly contemporary 1914-5 Grade II listed church of St Mary the Virgin by P Currey and CC Thompson. History The aftermath of the First World War saw the biggest single wave of public commemoration ever with tens of thousands of memorials erected across England, both as a result of the huge impact the loss of three quarters of a million British lives had on communities and the official policy of not repatriating the dead, which meant that the memorials provided the main focus of the grief felt at this great loss. One such memorial was raised at Buxton in the 1920’s as a permanent testament to the sacrifice made by the members of the local community, who lost their lives in the First World War. The memorial was relocated from the eastern end of the new St Mary’s Church to the south of the modern rectory, circa 1942. In September 2012, War Memorials Trust gave a grant of £852.00 towards a structural survey to address the condition of the memorial and assess the level of repair works required. Details St Mary's Church War Memorial is located within the churchyard of St Mary the Virgin Church facing Dale Road. It consists of a limestone canopied crucifix on a tapered chamfered square pillar rising from a square chamfered stone plinth. The base and plinth of the memorial are built up from a reinforced concrete base with a coursed ashlar and rubble stone limestone. The inscriptions on the plinth of the memorial commemorate the men of Buxton who gave their lives during the First World War. The inscription on the front face reads 1914 – 1918/ OUR GLORIOUS DEAD/ R.I.P. This List entry has been amended to add sources for War Memorials Online and the War Memorials Register. These sources were not used in the compilation of this List entry but are added here as a guide for further reading, 17 February 2017. Sources Websites The War Memorials of Buxton, accessed 10th May 2016 from http://buxtonwarmemorials.mrallsophistory.com/st_marys.html War Memorials Online, accessed 17 February 2017 from https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/70028 War Memorials Register, accessed 17 February 2017 from http://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/55654.' (1)