Norfolk Churches and the First World War

Over 11,000 Norfolk men left to fight in the First World War and lost their lives. The term Thankful Villages is given to the 53 parishes nationwide which were lucky enough to welcome all of their servicemen home. There are no such villages in Norfolk. The unsurpassed wave of public remembrance generated more than 100,000 war memorials in the UK. These took the form of plaques, monuments, gardens, memorial halls and, of course, village memorials featuring the Cross of Sacrifice complete with the downturned sword indicating peace. Churches provided an outlet for the nation's grief, becoming a focal point for commemoration with the installation of memorials but also by way of the service held every Remembrance Sunday in which the names of the fallen are read out. The following Norfolk churches each have particularly poignant and interesting links to the First World War.

A walk through Horstead, Coltishall, Great Hautbois and Belaugh