Buttsbury Church Essex

[john w.]

Today I nipped into Buttsbury Church as I had long been aware that there was a memorial to the fallen of the Great War inside.

Well I was surprised at the memorial and wondered if Forum members had come across anything like it on their travels.

1. It is inside the church

2. It is hand carved wood

3. There are three panels, the outside ones show who went to war and served

4. The middle records the fallen

5. Against the family names of those who served is a number and this relates to the number of family members who served

The carver lived in the village of Stock and was the local wheelwright and coffin maker, so had the skills to achieve such a job.

Has anyone come across anything of this type before?

I will put some pictures up of the memorial following this posting

John

[john w.]

Photo 1 the whole memorial

[john w.]

Detail 1

[john w.]

Last one... apologies for the quality they are scanned

This shows the number who served

John

[Clive Maier]

A fine memorial. I have not seen one like it.

The inspiration for it may well have been the wayside war shrines that began to appear in 1916. These commonly featured a triptych design. I think there is a good chance that this memorial perpetuates and updates a local shrine.