Monument | War dead | WW1

Limehouse WW1 Cross

Erection date: 15/4/1923

Inscription

{Immediately below the foliage and thorns:}
1914 - 1918

{At the top of the plinth, on the front:}
To the glory of God and to the memory of the men of England who fell in the Great War.

{At the top of the plinth, on the back:}
Greater love has no man than that he should lay down his love for his friends.

{The main part of the plinth, all four faces, is taken up with a list of about 140 names in alphabetical sequence. Much of this is illegible through weather damage but we have managed to transcribe the list on the least damaged north-facing front - see Subjects commemorated - with "?"s where letters are illegible.}

We photographed this section of the cross to show the very unusual carving. At the base this depicts thorny branches entwined around stem which, higher up, reveal themselves as the stalks of opium seed heads, symbolising the trials of battle giving way to the peace of sleep.

We've reported this memorial to the excellent War Memorials Trust, as being in need of some care and attention.

Site: Limehouse WW1 Cross (1 memorial)

E1, Butcher Row, St James' Gardens

Known as the Ratcliff memorial cross. None of the text on the cross identifies who erected it but we think this garden is the old graveyard of St James Ratcliff church, which used to stand where part of the 'Royal Foundation of St Katharine' now stands. From London Metropolitan Archives: "Saint James' ... was consecrated in August 1833. The church was gutted by incendiary bombs on September 7th 1940. In 1951 the parish was united to Saint Paul's, Shadwell and the ruins taken down."

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the subjects commemorated on the memorial on this page:
Limehouse WW1 Cross

Subjects commemorated i

Nearby Memorials

J. Lyons war memorial - original location

J. Lyons war memorial - original location

UB6, Greenford Road

This photo shows a section of the list of names. See our page for the memorial in its current location for the the complete list of names...

Fryatt at Liverpool Street Station

Fryatt at Liverpool Street Station

EC2, Liverpool Street Station

Prior to the restoration of the station these memorials stood elsewhere. The war memorial was originally erected in the booking hall. One...

War dead | WW1
2 subjects commemorated, 2 creators
St Mary's War Memorial

St Mary's War Memorial

NW1, Eversholt Street, St Mary's, Somers Town

The lettering is, unusually, made up of dots, pierced in the stone.

2 subjects commemorated
Hyde Park memorial to bomb attack 7/7/05

Hyde Park memorial to bomb attack 7/7/05

W1, Hyde Park

The 52 columns are 1m apart, 3.5m high and made of roughly textured stainless steel cast in sand. They are arranged in four clusters of ...

54 subjects commemorated, 2 creators
Buxton Memorial Fountain - original position

Buxton Memorial Fountain - original position

SW1, Millbank, Victoria Tower Gardens

This screen shot comes from the 1950 film 'Dear Mr. Prohack' and shows Cecil Parker crossing Great George Street with the Buxton Memorial...