New website on all UK war memorials launched

Local people will once again be at the heart of protecting and conserving war memorials.

First World War Minister Helen Grant today visited the Grade II listed Watford Peace Memorial and announced an ambitious four-year programme to create ukwarmemorials.org, a one stop shop for information on all UK war memorials along with where to go for advice and funding.

The move means local people will once again be at the heart of protecting and conserving war memorials.

Funded by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport from the fines paid by banks that attempted to manipulate the LIBOR, the initiative draws resources together from across the UK.

The website will allow easy access to what specialist organisations know about war memorials and tap into expert advice on how best to look after them. This includes how to get grants for conservation and how to get memorials listed. It will expand in stages over the next four years so that by the end of the project ukwarmemorials.org will be easily searchable, helping people track down historical information, listed status, condition and inscribed names.

Visiting Watford Peace Memorial, successfully restored by the local community with a grant of almost £5000 from the War Memorials Trust, Helen Grant said: “After the First World War, war memorials were erected across the country in a huge wave of remembrance. They were and remain records of our nation’s sacrifice, our personal and collective memories carved in stone. Our part in this ongoing story is to learn, record, restore and protect them for the future”.

Drawing attention to a series of new listings, from the Tintagel Cross War Memorial in Cornwall to the Alnmouth War Memorial in Northumberland, Helen Grant said: “I am delighted these monuments have been listed and protected. It is wonderful to see how deeply people care about their local history and want to preserve it.”

Chair of Civic Voice, Dr Freddie Gick said “This initiative demonstrates the importance we attach to remembering the contribution made by millions of men and women who gave their lives during the First World War. We are delighted that Civic Voice and the civic society movement will be playing a major role in helping to ensure that the country’s war memorials are in a fitting condition to reflect the price paid by earlier generations. We are pleased to work with our partners English Heritage, War Memorials Trust, IWM and DCMS on this project” We look forward to welcoming individuals to one of the hundreds of workshops across England”.