The War Memorials
There are 10 different memorials in and around the church. Most commemorate WW1 but there is also a stained-glass window installed in 1958 to WW2. The information below can help you find them. If you do walk around to see them, please remember those from this parish who gave their lives in two world wars and afterwards.
The war memorial Calvary on the exterior of the West end of the church was dedicated in 1921 to commemorate those of the parish who were killed in the First World War, and paid for by subscription from the parishioners. It is inscribed ‘To the Glory of God and in Memory of The Fallen’, with the dates 1914-1918. Its construction was first considered at a meeting in December 1918 and the parish authorised an application to the Diocese for a Faculty on 30th August 1919.
The names of those commemorated are to be found on the Roll of Honour in the North porch. Canon Drummond, who was vicar until 1917, wrote in the Parish Magazine of February 1921 “The Roll of Names is naturally of deep interest to me. I can recall so many of those whose names are recorded on it. I can see their faces. I can visualise even some of their characteristics. I can’t recall their faults but I hope and do not doubt they had them!” Details about the men are recorded in a commemoration book in the North porch.
In 2017 a new board was installed beneath the original board to record the names of a further seven men who had been omitted, and also to record the name of a soldier killed in Afghanistan.
In the Parish magazine of September 1920 can be seen a list of those whose names were to be recorded on the Roll of Honour and a request from the then vicar for the final submission of names.
After the second World war the simple inscription 1939-1945 was added to the Calvary and a further Roll of Honour placed in the North porch with, thankfully, far fewer names.
To the right of the side altar, behind the pulpit, there is another war memorial - to Lt. John Walton Bamber from South Africa, killed on the first day of the Battle of the Somme. At first rather puzzling for him to be remembered here but he was billeted in Maidenhead and became engaged to the daughter of a family who were regular worshippers at All Saints. The memorial is placed in that position because it faces the figure of St. Augustine in the window opposite, Jack being a student at St. Augustine’s College for ordained missionaries in Canterbury when he volunteered. It was originally planned that his name should be included on the main memorial board, as shown in the list at 3 above.
On the pillar behind the pulpit is a crucifix. This was placed there in 1917, before it had been decided nationally that there would be permanent memorials to commemorate those lost in WW1, and it is also a memorial to Jack Bamber, being the gift of Doris Anderson, Jack’s fiancée, and her parents. Everyone who has preached from the pulpit since then has preached underneath this crucifix.
The window behind the side altar is also a memorial, designed by one of the pre-eminent stained-glass designers of the 20th century – Sir Ninian Comper. It was commissioned and installed in 1958. Before that it consisted of plain diamond shaped glass panels.
The inscription at the foot of the window reads “For the safety of this Church 1939-1945 Thanks be to God”.
In the Parish Magazine of January 1920 it is recorded, “The following gift to All Saints Church has been received: “A brass Altar Book desk in memory of a brother killed in the war” Unfortunately, we do not know who the donor or the brother was. The desk is usually kept at the High Altar.
The beautiful font cover of carved oak partly gilded and surmounted by a dove was designed by William Fellowes Prynne and installed in April 1918. It is inscribed to the memory of William Howe Bissley, killed in August 1916. The carved text reads “Except a man be born of water and the spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God”. William was a Sunday school teacher and the son of J S Bissley, a churchwarden of All Saints. His name can also be found on the Roll of Honour in the North porch.
Finally, outside the church beside the entrance to the bell tower in the North porch can be found a tablet recording the re-hanging of the bells in 1922 ’in Thanksgiving for Peace’.
The War Memorials leaflet