Drayton War Memorial

First World War memorial with later additions for the Second World War.

The aftermath of the First World War saw the biggest single wave of public commemoration ever with tens of thousands of memorials erected across England. This was the result of both the huge impact on communities of the loss of three quarters of a million British lives, and also the official policy of not repatriating the dead: therefore the memorials provided the main focus of the grief felt at this great loss. One such memorial was raised at Drayton as a permanent testament to the sacrifice made by the members of the local community who lost their lives in the First World War.

The inscription reads: TO THE GLORY OF GOD/ AND IN GRATEFUL MEMORY OF THE/ DRAYTON MEN/ WHO DIED ON ACTIVE SERVICE/ 1914 - 1918/ (NAMES)/ The epitaph reads "GREATER LOVE HATH NO MAN THAN THIS"/ IN MEMORY OF/ THE FALLEN/1939 – 1945 WAR.

The memorial is set within a raised square enclosure of knapped flint walling with shallow flat stone copings. The enclosure takes up the slope of the higher ground to the rear of the memorial.