Port Sunlight’s war memorial has been awarded Grade I listed status.

The granite monument, designed by Welsh sculptor Sir William Goscombe John and unveiled by two Lever Brothers employees in 1921, joins the Liverpool
Cenotaph as two of only seven war memorials in the country covered by the coveted heritage accolade.

The others are The Cenotaph in Whitehall, Leicester Victory Arch, The Dock Tower in Lincolnshire and London’s Edith Cavell and Royal Artillery Memorials.

The listing was made after the Port Sunlight Trust was invited to apply through a scheme being run by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and English Heritage to review and recognise the historical importance of the nation’s war memorials in this centenary year of the outbreak of World War I.

Port Sunlight’s memorial, which stands in the centre of the village near the Lady Lever Art Gallery, already had Grade II listed status, from when it was awarded in 1965.

Chairman of Port Sunlight Village Trust, Maggie Sparks, said today: “We’re delighted the war memorial has been upgraded. It’s a wonderful acknowledgment of its exceptional quality and the profound effect the First World War had on the community here. With its monumental scale, exquisite bronzes, pivotal location and ground-breaking theme, the memorial is a true landmark for Port Sunlight.”

Cllr Jerry Williams, heritage champion for Wirral Council, said: “It is a fitting monument to the sacrifices made by Port Sunlight’s workers and their families, and I’m delighted that it has been recognised as such.”

And Nick Bridgland, English Heritage’s designation director for the North, added: “The Port Sunlight war memorial has been upgraded to Grade I, taking its place alongside the most historically important memorials in the country such as the Liverpool Cenotaph.”

Port Sunlight founder William Hesketh Lever was chairman of the Empire War Mem-orial League during WWI.

He commissioned Goscombe John to design a memorial for the village in 1916, with the theme “defence of the realm”.

The bronze figures were cast by AB Burton at Thames Ditton, and the memorial was built by William Kirkpatrick Ltd, of Manchester. It incorporates the names of more than 500 Lever employees killed in WWI.