Historical society hoping to raise £20,000 to restore 100 year old rare war memorial in Albrighton

The Albrighton Parish Council and Albrighton and District Historical Society are hoping to raise an estimated amount of £20,000 to repair the memorial area on Newport Road which depicts Christ on the cross and names of local people who died in the First and Second World Wars.

The fascinating history behind the memorial has been revealed by John Stretton, chairman of Albrighton and District Historical Society, who says the Grade II listed memorial has an interesting backstory.

"A committee was set up in 1919, and by September 1920 the memorial was set up," John explained. "It obviously has very religious connotations, and there are only about three of these in the country, it is very rare.

"The body of Christ and the cross were constructed by sculptor William Aumonier. All the ironwork on the gates and the cross itself was created by master blacksmith Alfred Bucknell.

"John Campbell was the architect and he was actually originally from Wolverhampton. Just before the First World War broke out, John Campbell was appoint4r professor of architecture at The University of Munich. He went over but a month later war broke out and he was immediately entered into a camp for the whole war.

"So, this job in Albrighton was his first when he came back."

Originally the memorial was meant to cost £364, but ended up costing more than £500.

John added: "This would have been a lot of money in those days, especially in a small place like Albrighton where the population was around 900 people.

"The location of the memorial is due to a land donation from Mr and Mrs Heatley who owned St Cuthbert's Grange. It was a sandstone quarry and the piece of land for the memorial was given to the committee by the couple. It was finally dedicated in September 1920."

While researching the memorial and the people whose names serve as a reminder of the great loss of war, John noticed the memorial wasn't in the best condition.

After talking to specialists, they found it was leaning slightly to the left and underneath it was starting to rot. A plinth had also been put around the bottom of the statue at some point which meant the biblical text the original creators had installed has been obscured from view.

The parish council and the historical society have now set about restoring the memorial to its former glory and estimate around £20,000 will be needed for the precise and specialist work.

The team have some ideas for fundraisers and would welcome any help or donations. Contact strettonjohn@hotmail.co.uk for more information.