High Street, Wheatley War Memorial

  • The original Memorial unveiled June 15 1921 and taken down in 1974
  • On Remembrance Day 1974 the new war memorial was dedicated
  • The memorial cross in the Old Quadrangle in Magdalen College
Archive Notes:

Newspaper (Oxford Journal) articles on the unveiling of the War Memorial on June 15 1921, with two photos. Also newspaper report from Oxford Mail 1974.

Photo showing the two war memorials before the removal of the old one. On Remembrance Day 1974 the new war memorial was dedicated by the Bishop of Dorchester, the Rt. Rev. Peter Walker. It bears the inscription ‘This memorial, once at Magdalen College, commemorates the inhabitants of Wheatley who gave their lives in two world wars. Shortly after this, the crumbling old memorial was removed & the names of those who died placed in the outside wall of St Mary’s porch.

The Magdalen College war memorial cost £1,000 and was unveiled by the Prince of Wales on 8 February 1921. It comprises a Greek cross with ornamented arms on an octagonal shaft and plinth, which in turn stands on a two-stepped octagonal base. It was designed by Alfred B. Yates. and was unveiled on 12 June 1921. It was donated to Wheatley and placed in the memorial garden and rededicated in October 1974 to commemorate the servicemen from that village who had died in the First and the Second World Wars. Their names are listed on slate plaques attached to the octagonal base. In the 1980s the cross was snapped off by vandals, but it was restored six months later.

The war memorial listing and history document provides detail of the replacement memorial donated by Magdalene College and the reasons for listing.

See also 1274

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