At present no image of this war memorial is available for online display. If you have a photograph of this war memorial, please upload it via our image upload form for inclusion on the Register. The image will be credited to yourself and free for reuse for non-commercial purposes by others under the IWM Non Commercial Licence.
Memorial details
- Memorial type
- Avenue / Tree or grove
- District
- Basildon
- Town
- Downham
- County
- Essex
- Country
- England
- Commemoration
- First World War (1914-1918)
- Ceremony
- Planted
Date: 21 October 1922
Attended by: Local Clergy/Dignitaries,RELATIVES/FRIENDS OF THE FALLEN
- Planted
- Lost
- Not lost
- WM Reference
- 55817
Support IWM
Any gift we receive makes a vital contribution to our ongoing work, from conserving our collection to supporting our public programme.
Current location
Downham
Basildon
Essex
England
OS Grid Ref: TQ 720 950
Denomination: Undefined
- Description
- Nineteen oak trees planted, each to commemorate one person who died. A tablet was attached to each tree inscribed with the name, regiment, and place of death of the soldier. The tablets were attached with a length of telephone cable cut from a reel used in the war and brought back from France. The first tree planted had a memorial tablet placed opposite it with the names of all the villagers who lost their lives. It was planned to plant another 8 trees, for the remaining men who had been killed, but their relatives were not present on the day to plant them. It is unknown whether these were ever planted.
- Inscription
- (Unknown)
- Inscription legible?
- yes
- Commemorations
- First World War (1914-1918)
Total names on memorial: 26
Served and returned: 0
Died: 26
Exact count: yes
Information shown: surname, forenames, regiment,place of death
Order of information: Undefined
- First World War (1914-1918)
- Components
- Tree
Measurements: Undefined
Materials: Plant Material - Tablet
Measurements: Undefined
Materials: Unknown - Tablets
Measurements: Undefined
Materials: Unknown
- Tree
- Listing information
- This memorial is not currently listed. Find out how to nominate this memorial for inclusion on the National Heritage List for England
- More about listing and the protection of historic places can be found on the Historic England website
- Condition
- Trust fund/Scholarship
- No
Purpose: Unknown or N/A - Sponsorship
- Private
- Reference
- The Times 23 October 1922; 24 October 1922; 11 / 26 October 1922
- Our Blog ukniwm.wordpress.com/2008/02/19/what-happened-to-the-downham-oak-trees/
This record comprises all information held by IWM’s War Memorials Register for this memorial. Where we hold a names list for the memorial, this information will be displayed on the memorial record. Please check back as we are adding more names to the database.
This information is made available under a Creative Commons BY-NC licence.
This means you may reuse it for non-commercial purposes only and must attribute it to us using the following statement:
© WMR-55817
For queries, please contact [email protected].