Where to remember in Wanstead this November
Wanstead's Remembrance Sunday service is at the High Street war memorial at 12:30 on 8 November, with a second ceremony at Snaresbrook on Armistice Day. Times, plus the story of the memorial.
Every November, Wanstead gathers around a bronze winged Victory on a small patch of Epping Forest beside the High Street. This year the main service is at 12:30 on Sunday 8 November.
Most of us walk past the memorial all year without a second look. It carries the names of local people who died in the First World War, and exactly how many there are turns out to be a question even the records answer differently. The times below come from Redbridge Council's announcement, published on 21 October.
- Wanstead War Memorial, 17C High Street, E11 2AA: Sunday 8 November. Arrive by 12:15; service at 12:30.
- Snaresbrook Memorial Garden, 81 Snaresbrook Road, E11 1PQ: Wednesday 11 November. Arrive by 10:45.
Elsewhere in the borough, Woodford marks it on Saturday 7 November at 9:00, Ilford holds its civic service at 10:50 on 8 November, Hainault at 10:45 the same day, and Fairlop Waters at 10:45 on 11 November. The notice says nothing about road closures or parking, so check before you set off.
The memorial stands on Memorial Green, a small detached piece of Epping Forest known as Tarzy Wood. Historic England's listing records that public subscription paid for it (£1,800) and that Sir James Roll unveiled it on 30 April 1922.
The Victory sits on a Portland stone pedestal. Newbury Abbot Trent was the sculptor, according to Redbridge and the First World War. Historic England gave it Grade II listing in April 2018, calling it "an eloquent witness to the tragic impact of world events on the local community".
Now the names. Historic England says the memorial carries 199, but adds that "subsequent research has indicated that the death toll was actually around 320". Other sources differ again: the Imperial War Museums' register counts 192 First World War names, while Redbridge and the First World War says the original listed 228, which eroded by the early 1930s, and that a replacement tablet carries 198.
A separate plaque records local people who died in the Second World War, and a small one remembers a serviceman killed in Afghanistan.
Nationally, the two-minute silence falls at 11am on Remembrance Sunday and again on 11 November, the anniversary of the 1918 Armistice. The council doesn't say when it will be observed at each local service, so go by the times above.
