This is an unusual war memorial, as it has served to commemorate two different sets of men. It now remembers the Wheatley men who died in the two world wars, but it originally stood in Magdalen College's Old Quadrangle where it remembered their members who died.

The Magdalen College war memorial cost £1,000, and the additional cost of paving the quadrangle (which had previously been a lawn) was £2,000.

The Oxford Journal Illustrated published a photograph of stonemasons completing the memorial on 24 November 1920, and it was unveiled by the Prince of Wales on 8 February 1921, with a photograph (above left) appearing in The Times the following day. Historic England stated that it is made of limestone, while the Imperial War Museum believes it to be made of Portland Stone. It comprises a Greek cross with ornamented arms on an octagonal shaft and plinth, which in turn stands on a two-stepped octagonal base. It was designed by Alfred B. Yates. A photograph of stonemasons completing this memorial at Magdalen College appeared in the Oxford Journal Illustrated on 24 November 1920 (p. 12), followed by a photograph of the painter putting the finishing touches to the list of names on the plaque in the cloisters on 13 April 1921 (p. 4). Robert Gunther, a Fellow of the College, did not like it, describing it as “a phallus with a silly little cross at the top”.

The front of the plinth was inscribed simply MCMXIV in the centre, while the names of the Magdalen war dead were listed on plaques in the Cloisters. Full biographies of the Magdalen College men originally remembered by this memorial can be found here.

This photograph (Historic England HT12634) shows Magdalen College's memorial with wreaths in 1921:

In 1940 Magdalen College removed its war memorial because of the danger from bombing and stored it in its masons' yard. It was never reinstalled.

Wheatley's war memorial

Wheatley's original war memorial was unveiled on 12 June 1921, and three photographs appeared of the unveiling ceremony in the Oxford Journal Illustrated on 15 June 1921 (p. 9). The condition of this memorial became dangerous, and Magdalen College offered the village the war memorial it had put into storage on permanent loan. It was duly set up beside the original Wheatley war memorial in the Old Burial Ground in Bell Lane and then the latter was pulled down, with its memorial tablets moved to the parish church. The former Magdalen memorial was rededicated in October 1974 to commemorate the servicemen from Wheatley who had died in the First and the Second World Wars. Their names are listed on slate plaques attached to the octagonal base (see below): they are incised and painted white.

In the 1980s the cross was snapped off by vandals, but it was restored six months later.

In 2014 the War Memorials Trust gave a grant of £1900 to steam-clean the memorial, repoint the open joints using lime mortar, and repaint lettering that had deteriorated on the plaques and panels. An additional plaque dated that year was added, but the War Memorials Trust had this to say about it:

From War Memorials Trust perspective it is unfortunate that at some point after works in 2014 an additional plaque was added commemorating 2014 as a centenary year. War Memorials Trust does not believe it is appropriate for plaques to be added to war memorials that do not sympathetically reflect the original purpose of the memorial in question. This is because the intended purpose of the memorial is changed by such additions. War memorials provide a focus for commemorating those who have fought or fallen in a conflict and this importance should not be detracted from through unsympathetic additions. It is also important to remember that the addition of such plaques on a regular basis is unlikely to be sustainable as space on a war memorial is limited. Such works are not eligible for funding and can be excluded from potential works within grant offers.

The Wheatley (formerly Magdalen College) War Memorial was awarded Grade II listed status on 23 November 2015:
List entry Number: 1430970

The names shown above (and the names of Second World War on the back of the memorial) are transcribed below. Where the men can be identified, they are linked to their page on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission's website. All of the First World War men have a biography in They were a Wall: Wheatley in a World at War 1914–19 (produced by the Wheatley Branch of the Royal British Legion and the Wheatley Society in 2014): it can be viewed online here in PDF format

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On plinth: THIS MEMORIAL, ONCE AT MAGDALEN COLLEGE, COMMEMORATES THE INHABITANTS OF WHEATLEY WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES IN TWO WORLD WARS. 1974
Top step: On three octagonal faces facing towards the front 1914 – 1918
Left slate	JOHN AVERY ERNEST BARRETT WILLIAM BARRETT FREDERICK BIZZELL	JOSHUA BUSBY GERALD CHAPMAN GEORGE CHIDDINGTON WILLIAM CLEMENTS	JAMES CLEMENTS MAURICE CRICK WALTER CRICK CHRISTOPHER GREEN
Middle slate	THOMAS HARDING ALBERT HARDING WALTER HAWKINS CHARLES JENNINGS	SAMUEL  JOHNSON JAMES JOHNS[T]ON EDGAR JONES HARRY JONES	THOMAS MUNT JOHN MUNT ALFRED MUNT WILLIAM NAISH
Right slate	JOHN [= James] SANDERS HERBERT SCARSBROOK FREDERICK SHELDON ROBERT SHELDON	SIDNEY SHEPHERD ALFRED SMITH GEORGE SMITH MARK SMITH	WALTER SPEARING FREDERICK STEVENS RICHARD SUMMERS THOMAS WHITE
Top step: Central octagonal face at back 1939 – 1945
	JOHN AUSTIN CHAPMAN CHARLES HAY IAN HIGHFIELD [?]	VINCENT HOLBROW EDGAR PRATT HORACE QUELCH	ERNEST SHERWOOD FREDERICK SMITH GORDON SMITH
Lower step: Central octagonal face at front 2014 THEY ARE NOT FORGOTTEN Photographs that include some of the above men in the “Heroes of the War” section of the Oxford Journal Illustrated 19 July 1916: Corporal A. V. Harding of Wheatley, Australian Field Artillery 27 September 1816: Private W. Naish of Wheatley, OBLI 4 October 1916: Private T. White of Wheatley, Gloucesters 28 August 1916: Private W. E. Crick of Shotover, Wheatley, Worcester Regiment 11 September 1918: Private R. Summers of Wheatley, Warwick Regiment The names of the Wheatley war dead are also listed on the outside wall of St Mary-the-Virgin Church there: