Elveden War Memorial
Every time we have driven up to Norwich to see my Father and Step Mother, and then just her, we have driven past this amazing war memorial to the First World War dead of the three parishes of Eriswell, Icklingham and Elveden: a Corinthian column, over 30 metres high and surmounted by an urn. There are also Second World War additions. Today I stopped for the first time to inspect it and investigate further.
It was designed by Clyde Francis Young and unveiled in 1921. It is an amazing Corinthian column unlike any other First World War memorial in England, with the added interest of its placing at the boundaries of the three Parishes whose fallen it commemorates on the Elveden Estate. One of the names from the Second World War is Viscount Elveden, who was killed in action near Nijmegen.
The memorial is located by the A11, where the parishes of Elveden, Icklingham, and Eriswell meet in memory of the 48 fallen from the parishes. It took two years to build and was unveiled on 21 November 1921 by Field Marshal Sir Henry Wilson GCB DSO, and dedicated by the Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich. The unveiling ceremony was also attended by Prince Frederick Duleep Singh, younger son of Duleep Singh, the former owner of the Elveden Estate. Accounts of the unveiling service commented on what a spectacular new regional landmark had been created, one that was representative of the ‘titanic’ scale of the war.
Next year will be the centenary of the end of the War. I think I will stop again next year.
Couple of Youtubes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAsgGUd8Hec
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0P6gIINYz74
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