This article about the War Memorial is taken from one written by Noel Wakeling which originally appeared in the Mountsorrel Post in 2009
There are several War Memorials in Mountsorrel, the most impressive is the one situated on Castle Hill. After the hostilities of WWI, the thoughts of a suitable memorial to commemorate the 73 men who gave their lives from this village were at the forefront of many peoples minds. After discussions with the Parish Council and all interested parties the site was agreed, Mr. Charles H. Martin, Chairman & Managing director of the Mountsorrel Granite Co Ltd, offered the skills of his Stone Masons to make and erect the war Memorial. Several designs were put forward, & the one agreed on was by the architect Shirley Harrison, who also designed De Montford Hall.
It occupies one of the most prominent positions in the County on Castle Hill.
The memorial was erected in 1926,and dedicated on the 15th of August, attended by local people & members of the armed forces. The names of all the men are engraved on a Bronze plaque, facing the village, with ‘In Memory’ engraved in the head stone. Some years later another similar plaque was affixed on the opposite side of the memorial, to commemorate the fallen of world War II.
There were three other war memorials built in Leicestershire with Mountsorrel granite. They were Anstey, Rothley and Woodhouse Eaves. But they were built with grey granite; only Mountsorrel’s was built with the famous pink granite.
Initially a wooden mock up, covered in hessian was erected. It was built by three joiners from the quarry, Bill Butherway, Arthur Attenborough and Stanley Wakeling. It had to be quickly repaired just before the official inspection as it had been damaged in a gale the night before.
The granite blocks for the memorial were prepared by stonemasons from the Mountsorrel Granite Company. A narrow gauge track was then laid from near to Bond Lane, along Crown Lane and Watling Street, to the top of the hill. The granite blocks were put onto small wagons and pushed and pulled all the way to the top.
A ceremony for the unveiling and dedication was held on August 15th 1926.The unveiling was carried out by Major-General Van Straubenzee, who was a personal friend of Charles Martin.
Thank you for this informative and interesting article.
Thank you most interesting My Grandfather John Holmes is one of those commemorated on the war memorial having given his life in 1917
David Thank you for the comments and your Grandfather is included in our book “Mountsorrel in the Great War” which we published to coincide with the centenary of end of the war. We continue to build our archive so would welcome any further details about your Grandfather in particular a photo if you have one you are happy to share with us.