Battlefield Crosses

[MBrockway]

Andy/Mark

I was on holiday when I discovered the memorial/cross: it is in a very rural location about 15 miles outside Norwich. As you can see I live over a 100 miles from there! Would you know of anybody, or a RBL contact a bit nearer or shall I PM you the details and leave it in your capable hands?

Mike

Mike,

I have a sister in Norwich who also has contacts with Norwich Cathedral, and Andy is in East Anglia too, but I think we should keep the geographical details out of public view if the cross is as vulnerable as you say. If you PM myself or Andy the details of the soldier we'll see if we can trace some relatives.

Cheers,

Mark

[OpsMajor]

Mark

PM on its way. The other 2 chaps on the memorial appear to be from the Norfolk Regiment (3rd Bn and 1st/4th Bn) if any Pals want their details.

Mike

[MBrockway]

My sister is hoping to get over to the church in the next fortnight.

If there are remembrance poppies laid, that'll be a good sign whether the memorial is still meaningful to the locals.

I'll report in due course.

Cheers,

Mark

[OpsMajor]

Mark

Thanks. I understand that if the church is locked the key is available at the house next door (gate at the northwest corner of the churchyard).

Mike

[Michael Pegum]

I have contacted all the 'organisations' that were suggested but, regrettably, nobody can do anything to preserve this memorial and cross.

Thanks

Mike

Here in Ireland, when a church is closed (and many Church of Ireland, i.e. Anglican, churches have closed) their memorials are moved to another church. Have you been in touch with the authorities of the denomination of this church?

Michael

[MBrockway]

Here in Ireland, when a church is closed (and many Church of Ireland, i.e. Anglican, churches have closed) their memorials are moved to another church. Have you been in touch with the authorities of the denomination of this church?

Michael

I'm not sure if Mike has done this, but my sister has good contacts at Norwich Cathedral and will investigate that angle once she has done some fact-finding on the ground at the church.

My impression from my own researches is that while the church itself is in poor condition, the memorial and the battlefield cross are still being looked after.

By visiting in remembrance tide, my sister is hoping to discover if the memorial is still meaningful to the locals, in which case it were inappropriate to relocate it.

I'll report in due course.

Cheers,

Mark

[OpsMajor]

Michael

Thanks for your suggestion, I had left it to Mark (who was quicker on the keyboard than me!) and as you can see he is d/w that.

Mike

[Andrewww]

I think you could be talking about my grandfathers brother here, he was in 13th Battalion the rifles and his date of death is the same and he was moved to Ghissignes  and his cross is in a church approx 10 miles from Norwich. I am actively searching his story I believe he might have been in D company on the 4/11.

[Andrewww]

On 01/11/2010 at 00:08, MBrockway said:

Mike,

I have a sister in Norwich who also has contacts with Norwich Cathedral, and Andy is in East Anglia too, but I think we should keep the geographical details out of public view if the cross is as vulnerable as you say. If you PM myself or Andy the details of the soldier we'll see if we can trace some relatives.

Cheers,

Mark

He is my great uncle I am sure 

[MBrockway]

I'll speak to my sister about this again.  She did visit the church, but I'll need to get a more up-to-date sitrep from her.

 

Apologies for not posting sooner.

 

Mark

 

[Andrewww]

3 hours ago, MBrockway said:

I'll speak to my sister about this again.  She did visit the church, but I'll need to get a more up-to-date sitrep from her.

 

Apologies for not posting sooner.

 

Mark

 

Hi MarkI went to the church run by the churches trust and the battle field cross of my great uncle is not up at the moment. I have contacted the churches trust and they have been very helpful and it has been suggested it might be in the locked room under the tower another contact who has also been very helpful suggests it might be away being restored, I am hoping it can be put back on the wall. It was quite an eerie visit for me seeing the font where he was baptised along with several of his siblings. I will update when I hear more.

many thanks for helping bring this to notice.

best wishes A

[MBrockway]

Andrew,

Have now spoken with my sister.  In fact she did not visit the church in 2010 as she was committed to some research on Jane Austen at the time.

She did however speak to the Dean's secretary and got me the names of the churchwarden and the minister of the parish to which the church originally belonged.  At the time I didn't post these on the open forum as it would probably identify the church whose security we were worried over!  I cannot remember if I passed this to the OP privately though.

With the cross *possibly* in a more secure place, this may not now be such an issue.  However I'll leave it up to you as to whether you want to release the name of the church.

There is an album of photos of the church on Flickr - some of which show the cross, some which show an empty space where it was.  The brass memorial (with your Great Uncle included) is also well shown.  PM me if you want the details.  I can completely see what you mean about the atmosphere inside the church.  It must have been rather moving.

Mark