War memorial at St Michael and All Angels Church, Berkhamsted
Churchyard of Sunnyside Church (St Michael and All Angels), Ivy House Lane, Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, HP4 2PP
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1437020
- Date first listed:
- 01-Nov-2016
- List Entry Name:
- War memorial at St Michael and All Angels Church, Berkhamsted
- Statutory Address:
- Churchyard of Sunnyside Church (St Michael and All Angels), Ivy House Lane, Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, HP4 2PP
Location
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1437020
- Date first listed:
- 01-Nov-2016
- List Entry Name:
- War memorial at St Michael and All Angels Church, Berkhamsted
- Statutory Address 1:
- Churchyard of Sunnyside Church (St Michael and All Angels), Ivy House Lane, Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, HP4 2PP
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
Location
- Statutory Address:
- Churchyard of Sunnyside Church (St Michael and All Angels), Ivy House Lane, Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, HP4 2PP
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- County:
- Hertfordshire
- District:
- Dacorum (District Authority)
- Parish:
- Berkhamsted
- National Grid Reference:
- TL0017807691
Summary
First World War memorial with later additions for the Second World War. Erected circa 1920, with the names of the fallen of the Second World War added after 1945.
Reasons for Designation
The war memorial at St Michael and All Angels (Sunnyside) Church, Berkhamsted, of circa 1920, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Historic interest: as a war memorial that has strong cultural and historic significance within both a local and national context;
* Commemorative: it forms a poignant reminder of the tragic impact of world events on the local community, and the sacrifice it made during the First and Second World Wars;
* Design: an elegant budded cross set upon a tapering shaft, moulded plinth and stepped base;
* Group value: with the Grade II-listed St Michael and All Angels (Sunnyside) Church.
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. This was the result of both the huge impact on communities of the loss of three quarters of a million British lives, and also 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 in the churchyard of St Michael and All Angels Church (now known as 'Sunnyside Church') in circa 1920, as a permanent testament to the sacrifice made by the members of the local community who lost their lives in the First World War. After the Second World War the names of 13 residents who died during that conflict were added to the plinth.
Details
First World War memorial with later additions for the Second World War. Erected circa 1920, with the names of the fallen of the Second World War added after 1945.
MATERIALS: carved from stone.
DESCRIPTION: the war memorial stands in the churchyard of St Michael and All Angels (Sunnyside) Church. It is S of the chancel of the Grade II-listed church. The memorial comprises a budded cross set upon a capital at the head of a tapering shaft. It rises from a moulded square plinth on a three-tier stepped base. On the plinth is a weathered inscription, which is recorded as 1914-1919/ TO THE GLORY OF GOD/ AND IN MEMORY OF THE MEN OF THIS PARISH/ WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES FOR THEIR COUNTRY.
A further inscription commemorates the fallen of the Second World War which reads GREATER LOVE HATH NO MAN THAN THIS,/ THAT A MAN LAY DOWN HIS LIFE/ FOR HIS FRIENDS. John 15:13/ 1938 - 1945.
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, 23 November 2017.
Sources
Websites
Roll of Honour, accessed 16 June 2016 from http://www.roll-of-honour.com/Hertfordshire/Sunnyside.html
War Memorials Register, accessed 16 June 2017 from http://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/72539
War Memorials Online, accessed 23 November 2017 from https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/253618
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 14-Dec-2025 at 17:45:18.
Download a full scale map (PDF)© Crown copyright [and database rights] 2025. OS AC0000815036. All rights reserved. Ordnance Survey Licence number 100024900.© British Crown and SeaZone Solutions Limited 2025. All rights reserved. Licence number 102006.006.
End of official list entry