Friday 22 November 2013

What is a War Memorial?

So what do you think a War Memorial looks like? Is it an imposing municipal monument?

Colour photo of Barnsley Town Hall tower, at early evening. Visible are three arched windows surrounded by pillars, above a balastrade the tower rises up. In the foreground is a sandstone war memorial surmounted by a bronze of a ww1 soldier resting his rifle in front of him.
Barnsley War Memorial in front of the Town Hall
Or a cross in a churchyard?

A concrete and pepple dash cross on a base of stepped blocks. There are poppy wreaths all around the base. The memorial stands in front of a red brick structure with narrow windows
Memorial outside St Mary Magdalene church at Lundwood
Are memorials all gloriously decorated?

A marble plaque, the border in gold and blue. Within a dedication and list of names.
Memorial Plaque in St Edward's church, Kingstone
Or can they be rustic and very simple?
A wooden lychgate over a double wooden gate set in a stone wall. Behind are trees in a graveyard.


A pair of bronze plaques set in simple wooden frames. Each plaque is headed with the word 'Fallen' and then has a short list of names
The lychgate at St Leonard's church Wortley
and the memorial plaques just inside the gateway
A war memorial can look like other things ...

A cruxifix in bronze or brass on wood. It is hanging on a white painted pillar in a church which can just be glimpsed behind. There is an inset picture of the detail of the dedication plaque at the cross's foot.
Memorial to Bernard Joyner in St John's church Cudworth


Two colourful stained glass windows depicting armoured men.
Memorial window in St John's Church Cudworth
A war memorial can even be a gravestone (as long as it's not where the deceased is actually buried!)
A old style gravestone with an arched decorated top. It recalls several members of the Johnson Family including the son who is buried in France.
John Thomas Johnson, died from wounds in 1917
remembered on his parents' gravestone in Monk Bretton cemetery


Do you know of any unusual war memorials in the Barnsley area?
We would like to record them and preserve the information on them for posterity.

Please get in touch.  Contact us.
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