Forgotten cenotaph rediscovered in Leeds on Remembrance Day with list of names on

The monument has been found at the entrance of Q One Residence, an apartment building in Leeds, originally erected by the Brunswick Methodist Chapel which was demolished in the 1970s.

Local councillor, Kayleigh Brooks, first noticed the memorial when delivering Covid-19 support leaflet bundles to volunteers during the first lockdown.

It wasn’t confirmed as a World War One cenotaph until Remembrance Sunday, when she remembered about the structure and contacted local historian Freda Matthews.

The cenotaph reads: ‘In honour of the men of Brunswick who fell and in gratitude to those who served in the Great War 1914-1918. Their names shall be remembered in lasting remembrance.’

A later plaque remembers the soldiers lost in World War Two.

The Chapel became an office block before becoming the current apartments in 2014.

Councillor Brooks said: “I spoke to Freda and she told me there was once a chapel on the site, and after a bit of research she confirmed it was indeed a WW1 cenotaph. I was stunned.

“We don’t understand how it could have been forgotten. The 29 men who lost their lives or went missing in the First World War deserve to be remembered, along with all the others.

“It’s an important piece of local history. The dead and missing are remembered all over the country. It was quite sad to think of Leeds men just being forgotten like that.

I’m thankful that the management company consented to my visiting to pay respects on behalf of myself, Cllr Abigail Marshall Katung and Cllr Javaid Akhtar, as well as residents of Little London and Woodhouse Ward.”

The grounds on Wade Lane are not open to the public.

The names of the forgotten men are listed below:

World War I

1914-1919

B. Archer

A. Barrand

E. Binns

C. Challans

J. H. Clement

W. H. Cooke

C. Croft

S. Elstub

T. Ford

H. Hainsworth

C. F. Hanson

B. Hardcastle

E. B. Heworth

M. Horsfall

C. Jakeman

H. Johnson

D. Mawson

G. H. Mortimer

V. Oddy

W. G. Preston

H. W. PURNELL

F. Russel

P. Smith

C. Stendall

O. Taylor

T. W. Thorpe

H. Ward

H. W. Webster

World War II

1939-1945

A. L. Crump

G. D. Gillatt

C. K. Harrison

R. Mammen

N. S. Pinkney

A. Rooks

A. Thompson

D. L. Thompson