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Memorial details

Memorial type
Garden
District
West Oxfordshire
Town
Chipping Norton
County
Oxfordshire
Country
England
Commemoration
First World War (1914-1918), Second World War (1939-1945)
Ceremony
  • Unveiled
    Date: 9 December 1951
    Attended by: General Sir Montagu Stopford; the Mayor, Miss S Webb, and others from the Borough Council; clergy of local churches; representatives from the War Memorial Committee, the British Legion, the Ox and Bucks Light Infantry, and other community groups
  • Unveiled
    Date: 6 June 2019
    Attended by: Operation Overlord plaque unveiled by Vice Lord Lieutenant, Brian Buchan
  • Unveiled
    Date: 14th October 2018
    Attended by: New gates unveiled by Mayor of Chipping Norton, Don Davidson in the presence of Deputy Lieutenant of Oxfordshire
  • Rededicated
    Date: 14th October 2018
    Attended by: New gates dedicated by The Reverend Canon Glyn Evans
  • Show More (3)
Lost
Not lost
WM Reference
31517

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Current location

Paved area between Rock Hill and London Road. Next to an Esso filling station.
Chipping Norton Civic Memorial
Rock Hill
Chipping Norton
West Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
OX7 5ZF
England

OS Grid Ref: SP 31543 27354
Denomination: Undefined

View location on Google Maps
Description
Memorial garden featuring a stone wall supporting three large, stone tablets. Arch-topped, portrait orientated, centre tablet contains Chipping Norton town crest, an incised dedicatory inscription and is flanked by two square tablets with incised names, WW1 to left and WW2 to right. Additional names added including four WW1 names which could only be accommodated on WW2 tablet. All lettering infilled with black enamel paint. A design of two flaming torches flanks the names on the WW2 tablet with a Latin Cross below. Three steps lead up to the wall and area is enclosed at the front and sides by a low brick wall. A new panel has been added to the right hand side of the memorial commemorating those who took part in Operation Overlord. It has an inscription in white, and bottom right are images of soldiers leaving a landing craft and the flags of the navy, army and air force. A further addition to the left hand side is a dark grey plaque commemorating British and overseas WW2 aircrew who died accidentally during training at RAF Chipping Norton. It has images of Airspeed Oxford and North American Harvard aircraft at the top and an inscription in white. A black metal gate, incorporating silhouettes of a soldier and civilians, separates the area in front of the memorial tablets from an area with metal benches. A flagpole completes the setting.
Inscription
Centre tablet : IN MEMORY / OF THE MEN OF / CHIPPING NORTON / WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES / IN THE WARS / 1914 - 18 1939 - 45 / THIS MEMORIAL IS ERECTED / BY PUBLIC SUBSCRIPTION Tablet - left :1914 - 1918 / (98 NAMES) Tablet - right : WW1: (4 names) 1939 - 1945 / (26 NAMES) Operation Overlord Plaque: OPERATION OVERLORD - THE FOLLOWING MEN FROM CHIPPING NORTON TOOK PART IN THE CAMPAIGN/ (33 NAMES Names) RAF Chipping Norton Plaque: ROYAL AIR FORCE CHIPPING NORTON RELIEF LANDING GROUND/ The RAF satellite station became operational on 10th July 1940 and a number of Royal Air/ Force training units were based there. The following 21 men who died in air accidents were/ all serving with No 6 Flying Training School, latterly No 6 (Pilots) Advanced Flying Unit or/ 15 Flying Training School between 1940 and 1943./ The aircraft operated were the Airspeed Oxford, left and the North American Havard (sic), right/ (21 NAMES)/ PER ARDUA AD ASTRA
Inscription legible?
yes
Names on memorial
Aldridge, J
Allen, F
Alley, F G
Appleyard, G
Aries, G. H.
Aries, W
Barnard, D
Barrett, C. E.
Bartlett, G
Bayliss, E
See details for all 129 names
Commemorations
  • First World War (1914-1918)
    Total names on memorial: 102
    Served and returned: 0
    Died: 102
    Exact count: yes
    Information shown: Initials and surname
    Order of information: Undefined
  • Second World War (1939-1945)
    Total names on memorial: 80
    Served and returned: 28
    Died: 52
    Exact count: yes
    Information shown: Initials and surname
    Order of information: Undefined
Components
  • Gates
    Measurements: Undefined
    Materials: Metal
  • Tablets
    Measurements: Undefined
    Materials: Stone
  • Wall
    Measurements: Undefined
    Materials: Stone
  • Plaques
    Measurements: Undefined
    Materials: Undefined
Listing information
Condition
History
1920 A War Memorial was installed in St Mary the Virgin church listing parishioners who died in the Great War. 1932 The British Legion proposed the erection of a (civic) War Memorial. 1948 A Garden of Remembrance including three large stone memorial tablets was designed by the Borough Surveyor, Mr W.H. Whettam, and a sketch published in a local newspaper. 1951 The Garden of Remembrance, with its central stone memorial tablet, was unveiled. The two flanking tablets listing the names of those who died in WW1 and WW2 were added shortly afterwards.
Costs

Comments: Total construction costs were projected to be £750 in 1951

Trust fund/Scholarship
No
Purpose: Unknown or N/A
Sponsorship
Public
Reference
  • The Tewkesbury Register, and Agricultural Gazette. - Saturday 19 November 1932 www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/BL/0002217/19321119/065/0005?browse=true
  • Chipping Norton Royal British Legion (Biographies of The Fallen). www.chipping-norton-royal-british-legion.co.uk
  • Legion's Plans for D-Day (Unveiling Operation Overlord plaque). Chipping Norton News, June 2019, page 24.
  • Chipping Norton War Memorial. (Cost). Tewkesbury Register, 25 Dec 1951, Page 5.
  • Remembrance Tablet Unveiled. Banbury Advertiser, 19 Dec 1951, Page 6.
  • Banbury Advertiser, 6 October 1948, page 6.
  • Oxfordshire Weekly News, 7 July 1920, page 4.
  • Chipping Norton Marks WW1 Centenary With New Gates and 'Poppy Plaques'. Online Banbury Guardian, 15 October 2018. www.banburyguardian.co.uk/news/chipping-norton-marks-wwi-centenary-new-gates-and-poppy-plaques-560157

This record comprises all information held by IWM’s War Memorials Register for this memorial. Where we hold a names list for the memorial, this information will be displayed on the memorial record. Please check back as we are adding more names to the database.

This information is made available under a Creative Commons BY-NC licence.

This means you may reuse it for non-commercial purposes only and must attribute it to us using the following statement:

© WMR-31517

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