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Monday, 14 December 2015

Other War Memorials of Ashwell in Hertfordshire

Ashwell’s war memorial stands east of the main village, at the junction of Station Road with Lucas Lane, at the corner of the Ashwell recreation ground. It comprises a Lutyens War Cross in Portland stone which is set on a square podium which itself stands on two circular steps rather than the usual three. The memorial, the ground to the front retained by a retaining kerb, is approached by a flight of six steps, contemporary with, and integral to, the memorial.

Ashwell's WW1 memorial 1921, by Sir Edwin Lutyens.

Ashwell’s war memorial committee was set up in 1919 under the chairmanship of Wolverley Attwood Fordham, a local brewer, with his wife Phyllis as secretary. It invited proposals from Sir Reginald Blomfield (who submitted a design for a cross), Sir Edwin Lutyens (a cross, obelisk or Stone of Remembrance) and Tappers, a local builder (a cenotaph). The Lutyens cross was preferred and was endorsed following a public meeting in January 1920. The Ashwell War Memorial is one of only two Parish war memorials in England designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens.

The cross was built by Messrs Holland, Hannen and Cubitt Ltd, the contractors for the Cenotaph in Whitehall. It was unveiled by Lord Hampden, the Lord Lieutenant of Hertfordshire, on 4 December 1921. The cost was £557 with Lutyens being paid a fee of £42 19s 10d.

Ashwell war memorial is listed at Grade II for the following reasons:
  • Historic interest: as an eloquent witness to the tragic impacts of world events on this community, and the sacrifices it made in the First World War;
  • Architect: by the nationally renowned architect Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens (1869-1944), who designed 58 extant memorials at home and abroad including the Cenotaph in Whitehall;
  • Design: a simple yet elegant War Cross, with the unusual feature of a two-stepped circular base rather than three. [1]
Front Panels (East):



In honour of the men of
Ashwell who fought in the
Great War and in loving
memory of those who fell


our glorious dead




Arthur Day
Albert A. Kirchin
Henry I. Dellar
Bruce Law
Julius Everden
Thomas Lee
William D. Eversden
George Longland
Percy Farr
Harry Loveday
Arthur G. Gentle
Herbert G. P. Maddams
John W. Goodwin
Albert E. Mole
Frank Harradine
John C. Noyes
Albert C. Hyder
Walter Picking
Tom Hyder
Frank Potton



their name liveth
for evermore

[The names of those who fell in the Second World War are inscribed on the podium.]



1939-1945
William Bean
Richard A Raikes
Stanley A. Marshall
Anthony Hill D.S.O. D.F.C.

George A. Page
James Law

William Pettingell
Kenneth Marsden

Douglas Waldock


Left Panel (South):


1914
Frederick Anns
Albert Amtman
Montague S. Austin
George Bryant
Harvey Bryant M.C.
Percy A.W. Bullimore
Edward Camp
Stanley Camp
Herbert Covington
Lewis Daniels
H. G. Waldock Died Aug 23rd 1923

Right Panel (North):


1919
James Revels
Percy Revels
Bertie Sheldrick
John Sheldrick
Harry Smith
Herbert Smith
Oben Strickland
Harry W. G. Waldock
Percy C. Wilkins
John C. Winter
Arthur Worboys

Ashwell United Reform Church was built in 1852 as the Congregational Church, replacing an earlier building destroyed by fire in 1850. [2]

Ashwell United Reform Church

Its churchyard contains a single CWGC grave and headstone for Private Herbert Covington also mentioned on the Left Panel (South) of the memorial above.


CWGC Headstone for Private Herbert Covington,
United Reform Church, Ashwell, Hertfordshire

Covington, Herbert
Rank: Private
Service No: 26534
Date of Death: 05/09/1920
Age: 39
Regiment/Service: King's Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment) 9th Bn.
Grave Reference: Near North-East corner of Chapelyard.
Cemetery: Ashwell United Reform Church
Additional Information: Son of Mrs. Emily Covington, of Mill St., Ashwell. [3]


[1] Historic England (http://www.historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1175188)
[2] Hertfordshire Churches in Photographs (https://hertfordshirechurches.wordpress.com/2015/01/19/united-reformed-church-high-street-ashwell/)
[3] GWGC Records (http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/364400/COVINGTON,%20HERBERT)

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