Coddington
All Saints

War Memorial

In the nave, between the tower arch and the north arcade is the marble village war memorial to the dead of the First and Second World Wars, erected in 1921. It forms the focus of the annual Remembrance Day Services.

The monument has a matching brown-and-white marble frame to the J S Thorpe monument, and is also divided into two panels.

The text reads:

TO THE GLORY OF GOD AND
THE GRATEFUL REMEMBRANCE
OF THE MEN OF THIS
PARISH WHO WERE KILLED
IN THE GREAT WAR
1914 - 1918

ALFRED BRYAN, M.M.   JOHN S. THORPE, M.C.
LEONARD BRYAN   RICHARD YOUNG
WILLIAM CANT   CHARLES YOUNG
HENRY CLARICOATES   CHARLES J. YOUNG
ALFRED HENTON.

AND IN THE 1939 - 1945 WAR

ALBERT THOMPSON

War Memorial to John Somerled Thorpe

In the nave, between the tower arch and the south arcade is the memorial to Captain John Somerled Thorpe, eldest son of James Thorpe and owner of Coddington Hall (as Beaconfield became known). He was killed on the Somme, an event which led to the sale of the Thorpe Coddington Estate and meant that all the family except his brother, Harold Thorpe, left the village.

The handsome marble memorial has a replica of his MC and other medals attached to it at the bottom. Above the text panel is a picture of his shrouded body, with military accoutrements – drum, sabre, bagpipes, bible and laurel wreath, with the texts

SANS PEUR ET SANS REPROCHE

and

GREATER LOVE HATH NO MAN THAN THIS THAT
A MAN LAY DOWN HIS LIFE FOR HIS FRIENDS

The text in the lower panel is duplicated at the family's chapel at Ardbrecknish, by Loch Awe, Argyll (now St James Ardbrecknish), where the original wooden cross from his initial burial in France is also displayed:

TO THE GLORY OF GOD AND IN
LOVING MEMORY OF MY HUSBAND
JOHN SOMERLED THORPE M.C.
CAPTAIN SCOTS GUARDS
OF CODDINGTON HALL IN THE COUNTY OF
NOTTS AND ARDBRECKNISH ARGYLL

JOINED SCOTS GUARDS 1893
SERVED THROUGHOUT SOUTH AFRICAN WAR
REJOINED HIS OLD REGIMENT 1914
WAS TWICE WOUNDED
KILLED IN THE SOMME BATTLE WHILE TEMPORARILY
COMMANDING 2ND  BATTN  SCOTS GUARDS
ON SEPTEMBER 16TH 1916 AGED 43
MENTIONED IN DESPATCHES
WAS AWARDED MILITARY CROSS

"FOR GALLANTRY AND COOLNESS IN COLLECTING"

"ISOLATED GROUPS OF MEN AT LOOS & HOLDING"
"A DEFENCE POSITION FOR THREE DAYS AND"
"NIGHTS UNTIL RELIEVED"

HIS BODY LIES IN THE MILITARY
CEMETERY AT CARNOY R. I. P.

Framed Roll of Honour

Lists the men who served in the armed forces in the First World War, under a patriotic image of flags ‘For King and Country’, ‘Our Roll of Honour’. The list is reproduced on the website of Coddington History Group, with additional biographical details. Some men who were not included in the original list have been found subsequently.