Not Much To Ask War Memorial
Statue Sedgefield County Durham

Not Much to Ask War Memorial

Statue In Sedgefield, County Durham

A World War I memorial of a six foot soldier, with his rifle lowered, taking a drink from his canteen by Ray Lonsdale.

Around the country there are war memorials in most villages and towns, and most are revered and act as reminders of what local people did for their country.

This memorial has actually stood without a statue for 50-odd years, however it now has a new recruit, created by Ray Lonsdale, who has over 30 sculptures in the region. Check out the Ray Lonsdale section on the Fabulous North Website for a few of them. He works in Weathering steel AKA as Corten Steel which gets its name from being CORrosion resistant and its TENsile strength. It has a nice patina after it has been outside for a while.

The original memorial was created from Sicilian Marble and erected in a grand unveiling in 1922.


The reason this plinth was empty is explained in an article called North East at War (featured in The Stockton and Darlington Times and The Durham Times).

'Local lore suggests that labourers working on the A1(M) between Bradbury and Bowburn in the 1960s knocked the soldier's head off with a spade during a drunken walk home. The rest of his body disappeared after it was taken away to be repaired in the 1970s'.

An Army veteran and local historian Andy Denholm has spent 20 years researching the men from the area who gave their lives in the WWI. Inspired to have the memorial re-established he mustered the community to raise funds along with the local council.

Ray Lonsdale came up with a more relaxed pose.

This memorial was unveiled in 2018 to commemorate the end of WWI a hundred years ago. The 41 lads who lost their lives, came from Bowburn, Coxhoe, East Howle, Ferryhill, Hett, Metal Bridge, Tursdale, and West Cornforth. They all worked at Tursdale Colliery.

Around the plinth are the 41 names of those who gave their life and the inscription - 'Sacred'.

Ray came up trumps with a befitting tribute and posed the soldier after he'd taken a drink from his canteen and the prose has an unfeigned plea.

Fittingly there are six Aged Mineworkers War Memorial Homes behind the memorial which were opened in 1920, and are well looked after. The soldier had a lovely lustre in the summer sun.

There is a nice hotel next door called The Old Mill, which offers meals and drinks.

  Add To Bucket List   I Have Visited This Place

Get 3 points if you have visited this place. Already visited by 9 VIPs.

Login to the VIP area to add places to your bucket list, mark them as visited and more importantly see where you rank on the league table.

How To Find Not Much To Ask War Memorial

Where Is Not Much To Ask War Memorial?

Show Place On Google Maps

Lat / Long

54.710099, -1.529218

What three words

pylons.statue.birdcage

Where To Park For Not Much To Ask War Memorial?

Show Parking On Google Maps

Lat / Long

54.710126, 54.710126

What three words

dolphins.pumps.wriggled

Parking is available near the Old Mill Hotel.

Contributed by Rosalind Parker

Thanks for reading through and getting to the end of this post. I enjoy exploring the Fabulous North (Especially as a Southerner residing up North). I like 'snippets' of information, and more so, if they are obscure, amusing or meaningful. The photographs are taken on a mobile phone, without any enhancements.

More Places from Rosalind
Rosalind Parker

More Places In Sedgefield

Find more fabulous places in Sedgefield, County Durham and if you know of a place we haven't listed, then let us know.

Fishburn Mining Memorial
Fishburn Mining Memorial
Statue Sedgefield County Durham

A memorial to the mining past depicting a miner with a pickaxe, working in a narrow seam.

Hardwick Hall Park
Hardwick Hall Park
Landscape Sedgefield County Durham

An 18th century, 40 acre park designed by London architect, James Paine.

West House Field Trig Point
West House Field Trig Point
Trig Point Sedgefield County Durham

The West House Field trig point sits in a hedge (82m) near Sedgefield.

More Statues

So this statue wasn't enough and you want more? Don't worry we have you covered.

The Brothers
The Brothers
Statue Seaham County Durham

A sculpture of three miners waiting to go down the pit. It’s a reminder of the three mines that Seaham once had.

Solidarity Miners Statue
Solidarity Miners Statue
Statue Ushaw Moor County Durham

An arresting piece of steel art by Stanson Art (Ron Lawson) and Mark Burns Cassell commemorating the coal industry in the area.

South Shields Lifeboat Memorial
South Shields Lifeboat Memorial
Statue South Shields Tyne And Wear

A monument built to commemorate Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee and also celebrate William Wouldhave and Henry Greathead, two of the people credited with the design of the first self-righting lifeboat.

Never Miss A Fabulous Place

If you are afraid of missing out on all the fabulous places we post, or just want to be the first to know, then sign up to the Fabulous North.

Each week we will email you all the brand new places that we visit.

Sign Up To Alerts
Sign up to newsletter
Fabulous North On Facebook

Find Us On Facebook

We post all our new places daily on our Facebook Groups page, so join the group today and be notified when we add a new place.

Join Our Facebook Group

Not Much To Ask War Memorial was listed in Statue // County Durham // Sedgefield