Banbury Borough WW1

• First World War (1914-1918)
  Total names on memorial: 341
  Served and returned: 0
  Died: 341
  Exact count: yes
  Information shown: Surname, initials, rank, decorations, military unit
  Order of information: Grouped by military unit.

• Board
  Measurements: height 1800mm, width c5700mm
  Materials: Wood - Oak

• CHURCH OF ST MARY
• Grade I
• This memorial is protected, and listed on the National Heritage List for England maintained by Historic England. View list entry
• More about listing and the protection of historic places can be found on the Historic England website
• 

• Banbury WW1
• WMO ID: 269924
• Condition: Undefined [last updated on 30-01-2020]
• Help update these details if the condition is wrong
• 

Comments: Raised by voluntary subscriptions.
Memorial: c£350

• Banbury Guardian - Thursday 16 November 1922 (page 5) reported: "Their Name Liveth for Evermore.'' On Saturday evening, on the anniversary of the Armistice, there was publicly unveiled and dedicated in the Parish Church of Banbury a handsome set of tablets bearing the names of those, 341 in number, who, from the Borough of Banbury, gave up their lives in the Great War. The Borough has paid a heavy toll, for, although it is difficult to ascertain exactly the total of men who went out from the town during the four years, the total of casualties as above probably amounts to a death-rate about 14 per cent, of those who served. It is only proper that the town should recognise their sacrifice and hand down the record of it to future generations. The names of Banbury’s sons, and we include the one woman who figures on the list, who heroically made the great sacrifice stand now before the world, emblazoned on a handsome memorial, showing how the Banbury people of their own generation desired to record their sense of their service and to hand down their names to posterity. To this perpetual remembrance the roll of honour was dedicated on Saturday evening by the Bishop of the Diocese, in the presence of the Mayor and civic authorities of the Borough, of the comrades of the fallen men, the present representatives of the forces, and a large gathering of relatives and the general public, after it had been unveiled by a distinguished officer who had commanded many of the men commemorated. It is, we think, fitting that the acts of sacrifice recorded on the tablets should be preserved in a religious building, and the historic Parish Church of the town is at once the most central and accessible to all, the common heritage of everyone within the confines of the borough boundary. But it has this additional advantage. In it, so long as the law stands as it is today, the memorial is protected as it would not be in any secular building. Sentiment, at least for many years, would be no doubt sufficiently strong to prevent the removal of any such memorial wherever placed, but the power to do so would there, and the public would have, we believe, nothing but the force of their own opinion to protect it. The memorial placed in the Church can neither he moved nor altered without a legal faculty, for the application for which public notice must be given, and any individual has the right to appear and object. In many of our ancient churches memorials have stood for as long as seven centuries. Humanly speaking, providing the law is not changed, the names of Banbury’s heroic dead may remain, similarly protected, in perpetual witness to the sacrifice they made. It will not only record their individual sacrifice, but the memorial will stand to succeeding generations as a striking example of the response to the call to service made by the men of to-day. Let us hope that it will serve those who come after as an inspiration as well as a record. www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001523/19221116/089/0005
• Oxfordshire County Council: Museum number OXCMS : 1976.58.15; 'Order of Service at St. Mary, Banbury for the Unveiling and Dedication of the Oak Tables Commemorating those from Borough fallen in Great War, 1914-1918' on Anniversary of Armistice Day (Sat Nov 11th, 1922). Lists men and women. heritagesearch.oxfordshire.gov.uk/objects/3142f82c-a0fb-4986-841d-db8b664ad353
• www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/269924/
• www.flickr.com/photos/55641195@N06/49210374037/in/photostream/
• Historic England, Grade I Listing of St Mary's Church on 8/4/1952: historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1369519?section=official-list-entry
• Banbury Guardian, Thursday 16 November 1922 (page 8): A very detailed report of the unveiling (spanning five columns) included mention that: 'The problem of a roll of honour of such dimension as ours was not an easy one, but at a parochial meeting held in the early part of last year the congregation of St Mary's determined to raise the necessary funds for placing it in a worthy manner in the Parish Church. The parishioners themselves contributed the greater part of the amount required, about £350, and the remainder came from subscriptions from other parts of the town and from friends away. The design for the Commemorative Tablets was entrusted to Mr. Gilbert T. Gardner, L.R.I.B.A.. St Aldates, Oxford, and his design was passed with commendation by the Oxford Diocesan Advisory Committee. And, we imagine, there will be universal acquiescence in their verdict. The design and the completed work are worthy of the aim of the memorial and of the building in which it is erected, and it adds to the reputation Mr. Gardner already enjoys. The carrying into execution of the design was entrusted to Mr. W.J. Bloxham, and the excellent workmanship and finish displayed are a credit to his firm and his craftsmen. The memorial is of oak, matching that already in the church, and the details are in the classic style in keeping with the architecture of the building. It is placed under the easternmost window of the south aisle. Altogether the memorial measures 19 feet in length and six feet in depth, There are ten panels divided by pannelled pilasters and finished at each end with carved consoles, terminating at their upper and lower ends with scrolls, the whole being supported by carved brackets, and surmounted by a moulded and richly carved cornice. The whole of the work is in selected wainscot oak. The 341 names of the fallen are recorded on the panels under their respective regiments in incised gilded letters, in the order supplied by the Admiralty and War Office. Above each pilaster is a carved and coloured emblamatical device as follows: The Crown of Thorns, the Arms of the Borough of Banbury, an anchor to represent the Sea Forces, a bugle to represent the Land Forces, wings to denote the Air Service, and a red cross for the Medical Services. Along the top of the panels beneath the cornice the inscription: "In Grateful Memory of those of this Borough who fell in the Great War" and at the base "1914-1918" are in gilded characters. The service on Saturday evening, at which the memorial was unveiled by Major-General Mr Robert Fanshawe. K.C.B.. D.S.O.. and dedicated the Bishop of Oxford (Dr. Burge), commenced at half-past seven, and when the doors were opened a quarter seven there was a large number awaiting admission. Almost the whole of the south aisle in which the memorial is situated was reserved for the relatives of the fallen, two tickets being allotted to representatives of each name the tablets, and there was a large attendance of these. Seats in the centre of the church and the north aisle were kept for corporate bodies, and chairs were placed in the aisles to augment the accommodation. The church was filled by the time the service commenced, there being about 2,000 people present... [The report concluded with: 'THE ROLL OF HONOUR. The Names of the Banbury Men and Woman as engraved on the Memorial Tablets:...']. www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001523/19221116/133/0008