Freedom Cross at Penrhos Polish Village

Cadw's description

Location

On the east side of Penrhos Polish Village, near the access road off the A499 on the left of footpath to front entrance of Penrhos Polish Church.

History

Freestanding church cross erected by resettled Polish exiles in 1947.

In 1935 the UK Ministry of Defence selected Penrhos on the Llyn peninsula as the site for a new RAF base for training bomber pilots. The government compulsorily purchased and demolished several farmhouses in the area, including the C16 Uchelwyr house at Penyberth, which was famous for its patronage of centuries of Welsh poetry. Protests within Wales failed to stop the plans, and in September 1936 three of the leaders of Plaid Genedlaethol Cymru set fire to several of the new buildings at RAF Penrhos before handing themselves into the police. They were imprisoned for nine months.

The airfield became operational in 1937 and during the Second World War was bombed twice by Germany. After the war the aircraft hangars were demolished but the accommodation and training buildings were transferred to the Polish Resettlement Corps. The majority of the Poles who had fought with the Western Allies were unwilling to return to the now Communist Polish People’s Republic where they faced persecution. These soldiers, sailors and pilots were resettled with their families at over a hundred resettlement camps throughout the UK, with around 200 people resettled at the former RAF Penrhos.

One of the training buildings at RAF Penrhos was converted into a church and the cross erected outside in May 1947. At the time the Cross was erected many of the Poles anticipated an imminent third world war against Communism that would see them return home, but by 1949 the Resettlement Corps was disbanded with most inhabitants of the camp having found civilian jobs. The majority of those resettled were Catholic but the Church was shared with Orthodox and Evangelical Christians. The Village’s first chaplain in 1947 was Monsignor Franciszek Karkowski. Holy Missions in 1952 and 1963 were aimed at strengthening the faith of the community. In 1991 nuns from Poland arrived to work in the care home. A substantial community of Polish speakers persisted at Penrhos into the twenty first century. The cross was slightly shortened in 2014 following storm damage. The cross was slightly shortened in 2014 following storm damage.

Exterior

Steel cross set into concrete base. The cross is made from sections of steel lattice welded together, taken from the ribs of a Blister Hangar on RAF Penrhos during demolition works. Concrete cube plinth with inset slate plaques with inscriptions to front and rear. Plinth sits atop square concrete base with two steps.

Front inscription in Polish, Welsh and English reads: W DRODZE DO WOLNEJ POLSKI – AR Y FFORDD I PWYLL RYDD – ON THE WAY TO FREE POLAND – 3 MAJ 1947

Rear inscription in Polish reads: PAMIATKA MISJI SW. ODBYTEJ W PENRHOS OD 28.8. DO 1.9.1952 - 3.3-9.3.1963 [trans. Commemorating the Holy Mission in Penrhos, 28 August to 1 September 1952 and 3 March to 9 March 1963.]

Reason for designation

Listed for its special historic interest as an emblem of the post-war Polish resettlement in Wales and also of a controversial military site of the inter-war period.