Markfield did not have a memorial showing the names of all the fallen of the village until 2014.
As the 'pictures' were beginning to be shown in the early 1920s at the new picture house on Main Street, villagers wishing to commemorate those who had given their lives in the Great War (the First World War) decided to build a Memorial Hall, rather than a war memorial. A fund was set up, but did not raise enough money. Eventually an amalgamation with the Miners' Welfare enabled the villagers to buy the picture house and adjacent land at 128 Main Street.
The building became the 'Memorial and Miners Welfare Institute', dated 1925.
When the new Community Centre on Mayflower Close opened in 1987, the Institute gradually fell into decline. It closed in the early 2000's and was demolished in 2018. Houses have been built on the site.
More details are on the Institute page.
Each of the local churches has a memorial for men associated with the particular church, covering the First and Second World Wars.
In 2014, some 100 years on from the start of the First World War, a new war memorial to the fallen of the First and Second World Wars was established on The Green in front of the Parish Church of St Michael's and All Angels. This memorial replaced the Institute as the official village memorial. It was paid for in part by the proceeds of the sale of the Institute. The new memorial was dedicated on Saturday 28 June 2014, at a service attended by relatives, religious leaders, civic dignitaries and villagers.
The order of service can be downloaded here.
The names for the new memorial were selected by the Local History Group, using the various church lists and local documents, together with records that had become available on websites such as Ancestry. Selection of names was not always straightforward and the Group recognises that different views may exist as to some inclusions and exclusions.
The names inscribed on the new Memorial are: 1914-18 (The Great War - World War I) Bailey, W Bott, WH Brown, HE Burrows, JM Cave, A Cramp, RC Dowell, E Frith, F Joyner, HE Lee, AL Pell, WC Shipley, AHB Spence, GH Spence, AW Swain, W Timson, WT Wardle, A Watson, J Whittle, HW Wilson, CHE
More details of the men killed in, or as a result of, WW1 are shown on the 'Men who died in WWI' page.
1939-45 (World War II) Allen, RB Baugh, PTH Birkbeck, J Brotherhood, L Chiswell, A Haines, JT Jackson, JS Lillingston, LT Massey, L Morris, W Pegg, GA Robinson, DA Smith, H Swain, NE Turner, W Wapples, VJ Ward, L Worth, GW
The first annual Act of Remembrance at the new war memorial took place on Sunday 9th November 2014. Organised by Churches Together in Markfield, it was attended by churchgoers, uniformed organisations and villagers.
Wreaths were placed and a personalised poppy planted for each man named on the memorial.
The Leicestershire war memorials project has more information about the memorials at each church.
This article appeared in the Herald in December 2014, marking the first Remembrance Service.
Comments