Lest we Forget.

Taken from the Epsom & Ewell council Web site.

'At first inspection it appears that the names on the Dipping Well memorial are in no logical order; not alphabetical, not by rank or unit or actual date of death, whereas the St Mary's names are in alphabetical order. This is because the Dipping Well memorial started life not as a memorial erected after the war, but as a War Shrine erected during the war, and not on its present position but on the front of the Watch House. Names were added in the order of the dates of the officially confirmed deaths of the men. Some men were officially 'Missing in Action' and were not declared as presumed dead for some months or even years after they went missing. The first War shrine to be erected in the UK was at South Hackney around April 1916, and from then onwards many more were erected around the country, the Church of England being the main driving force.


At the Ewell Parish Council meeting held on 20 November 1916 the committee met to consider providing a Shrine for the Parish. They agreed to collect more information to find out the cost of a stone slab and lettering, and met 4 days later to consider the matter. (Full transcript of all the Parish Council minutes relating to Shrines/Memorials, see appendix 5). There appeared to be some confusion over whether the slab was a shrine or a memorial. The first meetings discussed erecting a 'shrine', and later meetings discussed the 'memorial'. My dictionary defines a shrine as 'a place hallowed by its associations', and a memorial as 'serving or intended to preserve the memory of anything'.


The estimated cost for the stone, fixing it to the Watch House, and lettering was about £10. The names were to appear in the order killed. Letters asking for subscriptions were to be sent out to the wealthier inhabitants of the Parish. '

I had often stopped at looked at this memorial in Ewell High St, but had never noticed the names were not in alphabetical order. Far better pictures of today's Remembrance services on Blip today, but this is my record of the 11th day of the 11th month.