Lelant War Memorial & Carbis Bay Memorial Hall

Here’s an unusual war memorial, I think you’ll agree.

Inaugurated in May 1921,…

…the names of eight Great War casualties, a few letters now sadly missing, are listed on this granite plinth,…

…above which…

…sixteen Second World War casualties have been later added.

The whole thing is surmounted by an ancient stone cross that once stood on this site, actually one of eight old stones, usually referred to as crosses, to be found in different sites in Lelant village.

Interestingly, there is one other war memorial in England that has distinct similarities to this one,…

…mainly because whoever made such decisions in the Somerset town of Crewkerne, 150 miles to the east, and once the home of my parents in their latter years, rather liked what he saw here,…

…which is why the memorial at Crewkerne, when unveiled in 1922, resembled this one,…

…with one major difference, there presumably being no ancient crosses lying around in Crewkerne (click for more).

Here’s Lelant church, which I’d show you inside if it hadn’t been locked, and as we had a look around the churchyard last year,…

…instead, just three minutes drive up the road,…

…here’s Carbis Bay Memorial Hall, which I was kindly allowed to look inside…

…to photograph this Second World War Roll of Honour,…

…and this page from the local paper at the time of the official opening of the hall.  What’s fun about this page is that I can tell you exactly how the advertising around the article was sold; “Hello.  We’ve got a major feature about the new Memorial Hall next week.  You were involved in it, would you like to advertise next to the article?  Cheap rates!”

How could they refuse?

This entry was posted in Cornwall, U.K. Churches, Memorials & Cemeteries - Back in Blighty. Bookmark the permalink.

2 Responses to Lelant War Memorial & Carbis Bay Memorial Hall

  1. sendergreen says:

    This is one of the most interesting memorials yet ! It reminds me of the Inuit of the Canadian north’s “Inukshuks”. The piled stones that are part art, part communication, and direction instructions.

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