AN ‘ELOQUENT witness’ to the impact of war has been recognised by Historic England.

The Chichester war memorial, in Litten Gardens, has been awarded a Grade-II listed status for its importance to the city during the 20th century.

The memorial was erected in 1921. It was moved to Litten Gardens in 1940 from Eastgate, with Historic England citing ‘historic interest and design’ as the two main reasons for the listing.

Town crier Richard Plowman, who is also a city and district councillor, said he was delighted by the news.

““What it does is protect it now for future generations to come,” he said. “It’s very important to the people of Chichester as well.”

Concerning the historic interest of the memorial, Historic England described it as ‘an eloquent witness to the tragic impact of world events on the local community and the ultimate sacrifice made by so many from the Chichester area in the conflicts of the 20th century’.

Regarding design, it said it was a ‘large, intricate memorial displaying high-quality carving of motifs and detailing, by notable local architects Unsworth and Triggs’.

It carries the names of the 356 Chichester fallen from the first world war.

After the second world war, four more stone tablets were added at the base of the monument listing the additional names of those who had fallen.

“Although it has been moved, no alteration in form has taken place and it is still a grand and ambitious design representing a tragic and internationally significant historic event and there for clearly merits listing,” said Historic England.

“This is really excellent news,” added Cllr Plowman. “I can’t think of anything better. We’ve now got it secured for the future.”

The listing comes just in time for the city’s service to mark Remembrance.

Chichester’s parade begins at 10.40am in East Street on Sunday (November 8), ending in Litten Gardens for a service at 11am.

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