Kirby Muxloe Memorial Park commemorates the dead of both World Wars and subsequent conflicts. The site features a war memorial, with slate tablets naming the dead. The tablets were recently replaced and the memorial and gates have been cleaned and refurbished.
- Brief History
The following is from the Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest. For the most up-to-date Register entry, please visit the The National Heritage List for England :
The war memorial was unveiled in 1923 and the gardens themselves were opened in 1933.
The memorial gates were erected in 1923 to commemorate the men from the village who fell in the First World War and to dedicate the playing fields behind the library and bowling green to their names. They were created by Joseph Herbert Morcom and John Russell, and the unveiling took place on 10 June 1923 by Colonel R E Martin CMG TD DL.
The Stone of Remembrance was engraved by Joseph Herbert Morcom, who was responsible for the memorial gates as well as other memorials in Leicestershire such as Queniborough, Quorn and Aylestone. The Stone of Remembrance was first dedicated in 1933, and unveiled on 15 October 1933 by Colonel John Brown CB CBE DSO TD JP DL.
After the Second World War two plaques were added to either side of the memorial to commemorate the fallen of that conflict. All three plaques were later renovated in 2008, and the 24 names from the Second World War were added to the left side of the memorial whilst the right side commemorates a soldier who fell in the Korean conflict in 1951 and a soldier who fell in the Iraq conflict in 2007. The original three plaques have been respectfully installed in the local cemetery on the other side of the village.
The garden of remembrance the memorial stands in was redesigned in September 1996 to its current layout.
- Photos
- Official Designations
Kirby Muxloe Stone of Remembrance and War Memorial Gates, situated in the memorial garden on Station Road, Kirby Muxloe, Leicester, are listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons: * Historic interest: as an eloquent witness to the tragic impact of world events on this local community, and the sacrifice it has made in the conflicts of the C20 and C21; * Architectural interest: a well-proportioned Stone of Remembrance in Portland stone and a dignified pair of memorial gate piers in Portland stone with ironwork gates.
