Remembrance Day Service at Peterborough’s First War Memorial
This is a request for citizens of Peterborough to attend the Remembrance Day service that will take place at St Paul’s Church, New England on Sunday 8th November, beginning at 10.30am. This will be the first commemoration since the names of the fallen from the district were restored on the memorial in August. The names on the St Paul’s Church War Memorial had all worn off since it was erected in January 1919. This was reported at the time as being the first memorial to casualties of the First World War from the city to be erected in Peterborough after the end of the war.
Over the years the plaque on the front of the memorial which carried the 84 names of the men from New England, Peterborough, who were killed in WWI, had worn completely smooth, and no names have been visible in living memory. A Book of Remembrance inside the church held some names, and an old postcard which showed the top half of the memorial taken at its unveiling showed a few more. David Gray, a local historian, had done some research about the Peterborough war dead and this was used to add to the list another 25 names, men who deserve their place with their brothers, making 109 in total.
On Monday 3rd August 2026, the war memorial was refurbished and all the names put back again for everyone to see. For the church’s vicar, Rev Ron Watkinson, who is retiring after the Easter Sunday service in 2027 after more than 19 years at the church, it is something he had always wanted to see completed before he left.
The new polished granite slab which carries the names of the fallen, etched by a local stonemason, is now fixed to the old memorial outside the church. The 109 names, which are picked out in gold leaf, shine out from the memorial in proud recognition of their ultimate sacrifice. This new plaque should now last for hundreds of years to come.
If you are able, please go to the Remembrance Day service at St Paul’s Church in New England on 8th November, there will be a lovely service at the memorial with all the names shining out for the first time since 1919. Please come along to that service, when Rev. Ron Watkinson will lead the commemoration all of these men whose names can now be seen again and whose sacrifice can be properly remembered.