Memorials Of The Great War

War Memorial Of The Month - July 2016

Stockbridge, Hampshire

click on the images to enlarge

 To protect and promote the spirit and substance of the work of Sir Edwin Lutyens OM

Stockbridge was another village that owes it local memorial to the presence of a Lutyens client as a local resident - in this case, Herbert Johnson.

Having made his fortune on the Stock Market, Johnson commissioned the Lutyens to design a large house, which became known as Marshcourt, alongside the River Test in Hampshire.  Built of local chalk between 1901-04 it is celebrated as one of the architect’s finest buildings.

It was therefore natural that Johnson would play a leading role in commissioning the memorial but, not only did he chair the local committee, he provided much of the money, the land upon which it stood and used his influence to widen the road to improve its setting.

The memorial was unveiled on 3 April 1921 by Johnson’s wife, Violet.  She had played a leading local role in tending wounded soldiers at Marshcourt during and after the war which, according to her memorial cross in the nearby cemetery, hastened her early death in 1923.   It was natural that the cross as well as her nearby gravestone would also be designed by Lutyens.

The shaft of the memorial snapped in two after it was hit by a car in the 1990s and it was refurbished in 2008 when the dead of the Second World War were added.  See also July 2017 (King's Somborne)

Location: Romsey Road, Stockbridge, Hampshire, SO20 6HF

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