St Mark’s remembers the sacrifice made by members of the congregation in conflicts around the world. Here, one of our church members tells us about the symbolism behind a banner created to pay tribute:

On Sunday, November 2nd 1919, the Bishop consecrated a memorial to the 51 men of the congregation who fell in the Great War: “… the great bulk of them, lads for the most part … nine-tenths of the men and lads of the Bible Class joined up before the war was two months old. One of those killed enlisted at the age of 15.”

During World War II, a further fourteen men from the congregation didn’t return. 

The 65 poppies of the banner represent each of the lives lost to the congregation as a result of war. At the heart of each one is a simple black button given by the current members of the family of St Marks as an act of remembrance.