Surveying and recording the hidden memorials of the Great War in the Waveney area

Today it is these memorials that remain the focus for all annual commemorations. However, these stone monuments formed only one part of the process of commemoration that took place in the post-war years. Alongside these formal reminders to the fallen were many hundreds of more discrete and personal memorials to the losses suffered by these communities. These memorials could take many forms; from the rededication of a local amenity, such as a village hall, to the keeping of a Roll of Honour or ‘Flanders Cross’ within the parish church. Many of these less formal memorials now lie overlooked and unrecorded, with their significance forgotten to the wider population, and their removal and loss remains a very real threat.

About the project

This aim is to survey and record these ‘hidden’ memorials in the Waveney area, bringing them to wider attention, and preserving this truly hidden history of commemoration. The project aims to share the information gathered with a variety of groups. The digital archive will be made freely available through this website, and as a permanent record it will be accessible to academics, professionals and those with a legal responsibility for the care of these monuments, potentially safeguarding them for the future.