The Renovations Story So Far
In 2024 a number of members of the Litherland History Society became concerned at the poor state of the towns principal war memorials, namely the Cenotaph in Sefton Road and the British Legion Memorial Garden in Orrell Road. In response, a volunteer campaign and fundraising was led by the editor. £478 was raised in three days via JustGiving. A request was put into Sefton Council to clear the moss and tree growth from the Sefton Road Cenotaph. Also a few Sundays before Remembrance Day a group of volunteers met at the Orrell Road Garden to tidy it up. Here for posterity is the content from the original FaceBook progress posts and the website written for the Memorial Trust effort. Plants and materials were bought with the £478 and the remaining cash put towards keeping the garden maintained in the new year. The Society recognises both memorials require much bigger investment to renovate them properly and this will form part of our separate fundraising efforts for 2025.
The original legacy website is below.
Welcome to the Litherland Memorial Trust – This page was first published to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Litherland Cenotaph’s unveiling on Sefton Road. Below you can see historic photographs of the Cenotaph and also the British Legion Memorial Garden in its prime. If you think you, your friends or relatives can provide more information on any of the pictures (people, places, events or dates) please send a text to Admin on 07936 717946 and we can make the pictures complete. The site is divided into six sections as below – do browse them all. All photos have been scanned in at high quality and colour restored from quite faded originals. View on a full size web browser if possible. If you have to use a mobile, use the “hamburger menu” (top-right hand corner on mobiles) to browse the different sections. Use the number to let us know of any similar photos you have with a Litherland theme so we can add them to the site and tell their story. We will also be using this site to set out our 2025 projects.
Quick Links (click to jump to)
Memorable Moments – Below there are some memorable moments from past Litherland Remembrance Day parades, attended by veterans and the public. Check back occasionally for updates on our fundraising efforts aimed at preserving the town’s memorials and honour those who served to protect our democratic freedoms and way of life.
The Litherland Cenotaph – 100 years of history
It was 100 years ago (March 16th 1924) that the Litherland Cenotaph unveiling took place. Placed at the centre of the town, in front of the old Town Hall (now the walk-in centre), it remains a poignant reminder of the ultimate sacrifice made by Litherland people. Every year the Remembrance Day parade takes place between this Cenotaph and the memorial tablet at the British Legion site in Orrell Road.
The Cenotaph’s 1924 Memorial Committee comprised not only council members, but also representatives from religious groups, trade unions, and local businesses. Made of white Derbyshire stone, the Sculptor (Mr J. W. Boden of Matlock) inscribed the names of the fallen. The Memorial Committee raised £600 (about £87,000 today) which was used for the memorial, hospital beds and scholarships. Money was donated to Bootle Borough Hospital to endow a bed called “Litherland War Memorial Bed”. Back in 1924, the British Legion provided the Guard of Honour, and the Chairman of the War Memorial Committee Councillor R.B. Lee, J.P in his opening address asked the Council to “treat it with reverence, and to keep it always in good condition”.
Biographies behind the names
The following pictures show what a central feature the Cenotaph became in the life of the town and how it is still the centre of remembrance ceremonies today. The Sefton Road memorial currently lists the names of 278 servicemen who lost their lives in the First World War. Members of the Litherland History Society have researched biographies of every soldier mentioned on Litherland’s memorials. These have now been scanned in and will be published online some time in 2025. There are some unsatisfactory aspects. For example, many Litherland people have died in conflicts other than WW1 are not named on our memorials and many of us don’t think that is right. We would also like to commemorate those Litherland civilians who died during WW2. The majority of those tragic deaths were kept secret by the authorities and we believe it is high time to remember them. Only a small brass plaque on the Litherland Cenotaph (picture below) commemorates those who fell “during the Second World War 1939 to 1945 and in subsequent hostilities” but their names are not actually listed
When the Cenotaph was new in 1924, laying of poppies on Remembrance Sunday was just being introduced, so the photo above reflects when ordinary flowers were laid. There is also a little girl to the left of the photo (below) and one wonders whether she was affected by the war like so many were. The dreadful impact of WW1 on local communities is why even today it casts what historians call “the long shadow”.
Litherland’s WW1 Training Camp
Litherland was notable for hosting a large WW1 training camp (see map below). Descriptions of it appear in the writings of three famous war poets, who all served at Litherland: Robert Graves, Hedd Wynn and Siegfried Sassoon. Each reported a bitter experience at Litherland. Each of their subsequent stories has become a global testament to the inhumanity and futility of war.
Photos of Litherland Camp life survive and several have St Philip’s Church in the background (pic below) – looking much like it does today. It is so sad to think of the hundreds of young men who marched out of this camp down to the docks – then on to northern France or Belgium to meet a brutal death. Reading the biographies of the people on the memorials is informative about the massive impact their deaths had back home. The biographies will be published on this site in 2025.
The British Legion Memorial in Orrell Road
Adjacent to the site of the Litherland Training Camp is The British Legion Memorial at Orrell Road. It is situated in a garden itself within the grounds of the British Legion (L21 Club). This began as a memorial to soldiers who worked for the Bryant and May match company. The match factory in Litherland was huge (see pictures below) and burned down in the blitz in May 1941 (picture below). The memorial stone was originally sited at Bryant and May’s rebuilt Matchworks site in Garston until that site closed in 2005. Fittingly, the stone then moved back to Litherland into a beautifully crafted garden of remembrance (pictures below).
Further pictures of the British Legion Memorial Garden appear und the “Garden” section in the top menu.
If you are interested in Litherland history…
Join the Litherland History Society for talks, exhibitions, and events for delving deeper into the town’s fascinating past. We meet at 10AM to 11AM first Tuesday every month (except December) at English Martyrs Hall, School Lane. Litherland. Entrance is £2 which helps to bring in a diversity of speakers on local subjects of historic interest. We are also trying to establish a definitive archive of Litherland photographs. If you have any Litherland Photos or even family photo with any association to Litherland, please bring them along to our next meeting (first Tuesday January, February, March… 2025). We will take steps to scan the photo or slide and get a good description for the archive. This will help preserve our social history for the younger generations coming through. So many good photographs have gone in the bin and so are lost to history. We will also curate entire collections scan them and sort them out for you.
