Sandridge Lychgate is a

war memorial A war memorial is a building, monument, statue, or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or (predominating in modern times) to commemorate those who died or were injured in a war. Symbolism Historical usage It has ...

in the village of

Sandridge Sandridge is a village and civil parish between St Albans and Wheathampstead in Hertfordshire, England. History The original name was "Saundruage" meaning a place of sandy soil serviced by bond tenants. The earliest recorded mention of Sandrid ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

, England. The timber

lychgate A lychgate, also spelled lichgate, lycugate, lyke-gate or as two separate words lych gate, (from Old English ''lic'', corpse), also ''wych gate'', is a gateway covered with a roof found at the entrance to a traditional English or English-style ch ...

with its flanking walls is listed

Grade II In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

, and is the entrance to the

churchyard In Christian countries a churchyard is a patch of land adjoining or surrounding a church, which is usually owned by the relevant church or local parish itself. In the Scots language and in both Scottish English and Ulster-Scots, this can also ...

of St Leonard's Church, Sandridge. It records the names of the community's 24 fallen soldiers and also those of survivors of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Background

In the aftermath of World War I and its unprecedented casualties, thousands of war memorials were built across Britain. Sandridge is one of a number of lychgate war memorials. Another Hertfordshire example is at Benington.

Dedication

An inscription on the left side of the gate reads

TO / THE GLORY OF GOD / THIS LYCHGATE / WAS ERECTED/ IN GRATEFUL MEMORY / OF THE MEN / OF THIS PARISH / WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES / IN THE GREAT WAR / 1914 - 1918 / AND / KEEPS ALIVE ALSO / THE MEMORY OF / THOSE WHO FELL / IN THE WORLD WAR OF / 1939 - 1945

Dedication ceremony

The Lychgate was unveiled and dedicated in a ceremony on Sunday 24 April 1921 at 3pm. * A detachment of the St Alban's

Church Lads' Brigade The Church Lads' and Church Girls' Brigade is an Anglican youth organisation with branches in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Bermuda, Kenya, South Africa, Barbados, Newfoundland and St Helena. Its origins lie in the formation in 1891 of the Chur ...

will line the churchyard leading from the North door * The Clergy and Choir will take up position on the inside of the Lychgate; the mourners immediately in front of it on the outside; the ex servicemen to the left and the school children to the right. The remainder of the congregation are asked to occupy the ground behind the mourners The

lesson A lesson or class is a structured period of time where learning is intended to occur. It involves one or more students (also called pupils or learners in some circumstances) being taught by a teacher or instructor. A lesson may be either one ...

was

Revelation In religion and theology, revelation is the revealing or disclosing of some form of truth or knowledge through communication with a deity or other supernatural entity or entities. Background Inspiration – such as that bestowed by God on the ...

xxxi, 1-7 and read by the Reverend T. W. Lister. The Address was given by the

Dean of St Albans The Dean of St Albans is the head of the Chapter of St Albans Cathedral in the city of St Albans, England in the Diocese of St Albans. As the Dean of St Albans is also the Rector of St Albans, with parochial responsibilities for the largest paris ...

the Very Reverend G W Blenkin. At the Lychgate itself the unveiling was by Colonel

Henry Page Croft Henry Page Croft, 1st Baron Croft (22 June 1881 – 7 December 1947) was a decorated British soldier and Conservative Party politician. Early life and family He was born at Fanhams Hall in Ware, Hertfordshire, England. He was the son of Ric ...

MP. The final hymn sung by the children

O valiant Hearts Who to your glory came"

This was followed by the Benediction, then

The Last Post The "Last Post" is either an A or a B♭ bugle call, primarily within British infantry and Australian infantry regiments, or a D or an E♭ cavalry trumpet call in British cavalry and Royal Regiment of Artillery (Royal Horse Artillery and R ...

a brief silence and the

Reveille "Reveille" ( , ), called in French "Le Réveil" is a bugle call, trumpet call, drum, fife-and-drum or pipes call most often associated with the military; it is chiefly used to wake military personnel at sunrise. The name comes from (or ), th ...

and the National Anthem."Order of Service Unveiling and Dedication of the Lychgate", Sunday, April 24, 1921

Conservation

The gate was listed in 1984.

References

{{coord, 51.78142, -0.30393, format=dms, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Gates in England Grade II listed buildings in Hertfordshire Grade II listed monuments and memorials Military history of Hertfordshire Monuments and memorials in Hertfordshire Wooden buildings and structures in the United Kingdom World War I memorials in England World War II memorials in England