All Saints' Church Great War memorial. Do you know it's there?

Some time ago and quite by chance I discovered that my Great Uncle, Acting Company Sergeant Major Thomas Civil was commemorated on a Great War memorial situated high up on the wall in a side chapel located in All Saints Church, Northampton. Alongside Thomas’ name are those of other men too. The memorial is somewhat tucked away - and on the occasion I visited it was in total darkness. I actually had to use my mobile phone torch to locate it and then look up to it. It isn’t immediately obvious exactly where it is if you venture in.

With the Heritage Open Days coming up shortly, I thought it might be the ideal opportunity to discover some more about Northamptonshire’s Great War history. Some descendants of Northamptonshire soldiers may not even be aware that a family name is included on the memorial.

Having contacted Reverend Oliver Coss at All Saints to mention if it would be possible to highlight the memorial in some way for visitors to see during the forthcoming Heritage Open Days and of course during the month of remembrance in November, he provided some useful information to me. He informed me that in 2023 the chapel in question was completely refurbished and new lighting was provided. Reverend Coss said “This included new lights that specifically illuminate the Great War Memorial and also the Second World War Memorial.”

This was encouraging to learn but due to ever-increasing electricity costs, the lights are not kept on unnecessarily hence memorials like this can unfortunately remain unnoticed as the side chapel wouldn’t be a place you would perhaps venture into otherwise.

Please if you can, spare a few minutes if you are in Northampton to go into All Saints' Church and spend a minute or two paying your respects to the men of Northampton and the surrounding towns and villages who served their country and gave their lives too. Great Uncle Thomas, (pictured) was born in Northampton and like so many other local men, was killed whilst fighting in the Battle of Aubers Ridge on 9th May 1915 aged 25 years. He joined the Northamptonshire Regiment aged 19. He was a decent, upstanding Northampton lad and in his obituary in the Northampton Independent it stated that he was involved in the Sunday School and was a member of the Band of Hope. Having joined ‘The Northamptons’ he soon won promotion through his high character and capabilities.

I feel both immensely sad yet proud to see Thomas commemorated in a place that he would no doubt have been very familiar with as well as on the memorial located on Abington Square. Tom, (as we affectionately refer to him) is also commemorated at Le Touret Memorial in France. He has no grave. Like so many other families at the time, this must have been heartbreaking for his family to learn of this dreadful news.

I hope that you are able to pay a visit to All Saints in the coming months to see if your Great War relatives service is remembered on the memorial. You never quite know what you might find out!