LEATHERHEAD'S WAR MEMORIALS

THE FRIENDS AND REMEMBRANCE The Friends of Leatherhead Parish Church helped to create a Chapel of Remembrance in our ancient Parish Church of St. Mary & St.Nicholas. Leatherhead Branch of the Royal British Legion's Standards are held there. Above the Chapel's altar is the central name board of those who died. This is flanked by lists of those who served in WW1. This is the Ladies' War Shrine which was the town's original WWI War Memorial on the old Clock Tower in North Street. The Clock Tower was demolished in 1952 The late George Dench carried the Parish Church Cross at the Service of Dedication of the present Town Memorial in North Street in 1921. He was a a Church Lad and a founder member of Leatherhead TOC H. His 87 years in the parish church choir is probably a UK record.

According to the History of Leatherhead (Leatherhead & District Local History Society, 1988) 983 Leatherhead men served in WWI and 163 gave their lives:

• The TOWN WAR MEMORIAL records the names of 117 First World War dead and 69 WWII dead.
   
• The METHODIST CHURCH has a memorial to five WWI casualties, including Miss AE Weller.
   
• The PARISH CHURCH has one WWII and two WWI memorials to individual casualties. 
  

About a dozen of those who died as a result of their service are buried in the Parish Church graveyard and their graves are in the care of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. 

Some are commemorated there on family graves, such as the Sturt brothers (from the family of Susan Howatch, the novelist).

The Parish Church pages in this website trace the evolution of the Ladies' War Shrine into the Town Memorial.

ALL SAINTS' CHURCH has a tryptich memorial to the many members of the Church Lads Brigade who fell in WWI. The building is now used by BFree and the Tryptich is on their History Wall.

ST JOHN'S SCHOOL LEATHERHEAD has many names listed in the School Chapel to Johnians who fell in both World Wars and in Korea. St John's now has its own WW1 fallen website.

The memorials listed above can be visited via the links on the left of your screen.