In Cam we have two War Memorials – one is in the centre at Lower Cam next to St Bartholomew’s church and the other is on Hopton Green in front of Cam Hopton School on Hopton Road. Cam Parish Council is responsible for their upkeep. This is sometimes aided by grant funding.
As part of the maintenance of these important public sites both the war memorials were cleaned in July 2018. The following year, in the summer of 2019, the oak Crucifixion top of the Lower Cam memorial was repaired and refurbished. Cam Parish Council commissioned Stroud stone restorer Graham O’Hare to do this work. The names on the war memorial are difficult to read because of the condition of the stone but experts advised that re-cutting the letters of the names might make the stonework crumble. Therefore a decision was taken to let the memorial age naturally. A full list of the names of the fallen can be found in nearby St Bartholomew’s Church and a plaque stating this is fixed into the ground in front of the memorial.
The stone steps leading to the war memorial at Hopton Green were repointed in August 2020. Many of the 13 steps at the front of the listed memorial and the five on either side of it, were damaged and cracked. Cam Parish Council commissioned Stroud conservation specialist Jake Etherton Building Conservation to do the repointing work.
Historic England’s guidance describes current best practice on the understanding, assessment, planning and implementation of conservation work to memorials as well as their ongoing maintenance and protection. It also outlines the legal frameworks and statutory duties that relate to their ownership and care.
War memorials have always had a deep emotional resonance with the people of this country. Whether on a national, civic or local level, they act as constant reminders of the ultimate price of war – collective monuments to the many lives lost as well as a means of remembering the names of the individual servicemen and women who paid that price.
The majority of war memorials date from the 20th century, and most of those from the years after the First World War. National and city memorials were generally monumental in concept and size but in towns and villages they tended to be more modest in style. Whatever their appearance, they continue to act as focal points for the commemoration of those killed and affected by war and as places for reflection on the effects of their loss on a community and society as a whole.
In addition to their continuing commemorative role, many war memorials are of significant architectural, historic or artistic quality and have become key parts of the historic environment; it is therefore important that their physical condition should be safeguarded for the benefit of future generations as well as our own.
War memorial at Hopton Green.
Repaired steps at the war memorial at Hopton Green.