In May 2014 the Co-op gave a grant of £1900 to Wrangle Parish Council to cover the costs of cleaning the War memorial,, re-cutting and re-enameling the names thereon.
The war memorial stands in a small circular island at the junction of Church Lane and Church End, close to the Church of St Mary and St Nicholas (Grade I) and to the Old Vicarage (Grade II*). It is a Calvary cross of Weldon Stone.
The cross is raised on a three-stepped base, octagonal in plan, surmounted by an octagonal plinth. The base of the cross is formed by a pyramidal pedestal from which rises the cross shaft, octagonal in section to the moulded collar, surmounted by a hooded Calvary scene. The figure of Christ on the cross is carved on the western face with the Madonna and Child on the eastern side of the cross head.
Both the plinth and the top step of the base are inscribed on four sides with black painted incised lettering. On the west faces the inscription reads TO THE GLORY OF GOD/ AND IN GRATEFUL/ AND UNDYING MEMORY/ OF THE 27 MEN FROM/ WRANGLE/ WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES/ IN THE GREAT WAR/ 1914 - 1919./ AND IN HONOUR OF ALL/ THOSE WHO SERVED THEIR/ KING AND COUNTRY./ 1939 - 1945/ [NAMES].
On the northern side names are inscribed followed by MAY THEY REST IN PEACE/ AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN/ AND IN THE MORNING/ WE WILL REMEMBER THEM. The eastern face has a list of names followed by LET LIGHT PERPETUAL/ SHINE UPON THEM./ AGE SHALL NOT WEARY THEM,/ NOR THE YEARS CONDEMN. The southern face records further names followed by REST ETERNAL GRANT TO/ THEM O LORD./ THEY SHALL GROW NOT OLD/ AS WE THAT ARE LEFT GROW OLD.
History
The aftermath of the First World War saw the biggest single wave of public commemoration ever with tens of thousands of memorials erected across England. This was the result of both the huge impact on communities of the loss of three quarters of a million British lives, and also the official policy of not repatriating the dead which meant that the memorials provided the main focus of the grief felt at this great loss. One such memorial was raised at Wrangle as a permanent testament to the sacrifice made by the members of the local community who lost their lives in the First World War.
The memorial was unveiled on 17 October 1920. It was built by the monumental mason Mr George Henry Linnell of Grantham and was unveiled by Major Oliver Cooper following a church service accompanied by a muffled peal on the bells. Following the Second World War an additional inscription was added to the memorial.
While originally located on a grassy mound surrounded by a chain link fence the area surrounding the memorial has subsequently been encroached upon so that it now stands on a small island in the center of a road junction. In 2014 a grant of £1,900 was given to Wrangle Parish Council by the Co-Operative: the memorial was cleaned and the names re-cut and re-painted.
The list of the names on the War Memorial:
1914 – 1918 1939 – 1945
Eligh Burr Benjamin Barber
George Clarke Leslie Alfred Dobson
Jonas Clarke Cyril Harness
Joseph Cole Jack Robinson
George Coupland
William Dawson
Willian Futter
Basil Hammond
Cyril Harrison
William Henry Haw
Fred Lamming
Richard Henry Leary
John Thomas Lee
Samuel Leggate
Edward Lowe
Earnest Metcalf
Leonard Metcalf
Arthur Pickwell
Ernest Roberts
Frank Sansam
George Saul
George Simpson
Charles Walker
Samuel Walker
Walter Walker DCM
Donner White
George Wilkinson
