Flood of poppies a tribute to war heroes

ASTRIKING poppy tribute to three soldiers who died in the First World War has been created by Westcountry villagers – who discovered there was no memorial for them.

Locals spent four years creating a cascade of more than 5,000 handmade flowers flowing from the tower, window and door of St Peter’s Church.

The touching project also features a soldier lying in a large hand surrounded by poppies inside the church in Dowland, Devon.

It honours Arthur Piper, 21, his brother William Piper 28, and George Westcott, 21.

Locals set to work after they realised there was no memorial for the three soldiers from the village who died in the Great War.

Susie Dunn, from the project, said: “Four years ago we found out that there were three soldiers from our small rural parish of Dowland who were killed in World War One.

“As Dowland has no war memorial – not even a plaque in the church or anything at all to remember them – a group of us felt very strongly that this should be put right.

“As our soldiers were all farmers, born in the parish, we wanted a memorial to have a rural feel, so decided to make something ourselves in the parish as we felt this would be more meaningful.

“The memorial is actually a large seat and is handmade from metal in the workshop in Dowland and designed to resemble the farm gate of a Devonshire field.

“We have incorporated poppies on either side for remembrance and three helmets hang over the gate, one for each of our soldiers.

“To accompany this memorial, there will be 5,000 poppies in the churchyard, cascading down the tower, out of the windows and encircling the memorial seat.

“Inside the church are over 3,000 handmade flowers creating a timeline, telling the story of the young men and their short lives.

“These flowers are all handmade of fabric, clay, paper and wool by local people in remembrance of our soldiers.”

She said that work had started in earnest at the start of the year, bringing together local businesses and individuals.

Adding: “As you can imagine it has been a mammoth project but one that we were all motivated to achieve so future generations have the knowledge of the sacrifices they made.”

Four Piper brothers went to war, with Arthur and William dying in conflict while the third brother, Harry, died after the end of the war from influenza. While none of the Piper family remains in the village, George Westcott’s relatives still farm in the parish.

Inside the church are over 3,000 handmade flowers creating a timeline

SUSIE DUNN

SWNS > Top, the poppies cascading down the church tower; above, Susie and Graham Dunn inside the church; left, the plaque commemorating the three soldiers; above right, Arthur Piper and, right, his brother William