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Retford St Saviour

War Memorial

First World War

Situated on the North side of the north east corner of the Sanctuary is the memorial to servicemen of the parish who were killed in action in the 1914-18 war. It was dedicated and unveiled on Sunday, 8th August 1920, by the Rev Mr Paxton, and takes the form of a tablet made up of a central area consisting of 16 tiles carrying the names of the 65 men commemorated by the memorial, with an upper section also made up of coloured tiles, carrying pictures of two angels, one in each top corner. The whole is surrounded by a ‘frame’ reputed to be alabaster. The angels carry between them a banner, inscribed:

The memorial was made and fitted by Kayll and Reed (later Baxendale, Kayll and Reed) of Leeds, and cost £60.

Second World War

The memorial to those killed in the Second World War takes the form of a vestry for the use of the choir.

The original faculty for this was dated June 1954. It was to be formed at the west end of the south side the church, and was to include a small Vicar’s vestry and lavatory. It also included a tablet bearing an inscription: ‘In memory of the men of this Parish who gave their lives 1939 - 1945’. No drawings were included with the faculty application; this vestry was never built.

In June, 1957 a new application was made. In this case the vestry was to be formed at the west end of the north side of the church. There is no mention of the commemorative plaque authorised by the previous application. Architect’s drawings were included with this second application.

Access to the vestry is from the main body of the church only, via a door fitted in the south side of the vestry. There is no external access. The architect’s drawings show double access doors (which would almost certainly have been part of the original construction of the church) in the north side of the enclosed area forming the new vestry, which would have given access to the vestry from Welham Road. These doors have at some time been removed, and a new window with partially obscured glass fitted with a low block work wall built below it. The original steps from ground level are still in place; an access gateway in the boundary wall onto Welham Road has been bricked up.