Day Twelve - We will remember them

The National Memorial Arboretum is the UK's year-round centre of Remembrance; a spiritually uplifting place which honours the fallen, recognises service and sacrifice, and fosters pride in our country. It is a living and lasting memorial. It’s not a cemetery. It’s a place of life, represented by the 30,000 trees planted there.

Covering 150 acres, the Arboretum is a breath-taking place. For some it’s a wonderful place to stroll and enjoy the trees; for others it's a peaceful and beautiful place to remember loved ones, particularly those who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.

The trees and the more than 300 dedicated memorials on the site make the Arboretum a living tribute that will forever acknowledge the personal sacrifices made by the Armed Forces and civil services of this country.

In the Remembrance Centre there is a poignant and moving exhibition that is called, “What’s your Remembrance Story?” As visitors are welcomed to the National Memorial Arboretum they are invited to share their stories from around the country and around the world. Many have done so, and one of the stories centres on the Lost Gardens of Heligan.

The story of the lost gardens of Heligan is quite remarkable. It is the tale of the men who worked the estate, men who a century ago left the melon, vegetable and flower gardens, the bee boles and dense palm-peppered jungle, the banana house and poultry yard, and went to war. These men – gardeners, masons and tenant farmers – became soldiers, sappers and sailors. Twelve left, only three returned.

When Tim Smit and local builder John Nelson entered the estate in the wake of the great Burns’ Day Storm of 1990, they made a pivotal discovery: the Thunderbox Room, which had been the gardener’s lavatory. By match light, the pair found a motto etched into the limestone walls in barely legible pencil. It read 'Don’t come here to sleep or to slumber' with the names of those who worked there signed under the date – August 1914. They found the names – Guy, Dyer, Ball, Hocking, Warne, Carhart – and in subsequent weeks they also found those names on war memorials in surrounding parishes.

Following this discovery the most ambitious garden restoration programme ever undertaken took place, taking the best part of a decade, and the Lost Gardens of Heligan now are one of the most visited gardens in this country, winner of multiple awards and recognised as an area of outstanding beauty.

And the Thunderbox Room has become a monument to the men who fought in 1914, and has been granted memorial status by the Imperial War Museum.

Let us ask for God’s blessings, that we might work for peace, pray in hope and be the reconciling presence which this world, and every home and community, so desperately needs.

Gracious God, remember your holy promise, and look with love on all your people, living and departed.

On this day we especially ask that you would hold forever all who have suffered during war, those who returned scarred by warfare, those who waited anxiously at home, and those who returned wounded, and disillusioned; those who mourned, and those communities that were diminished and suffered loss.

Remember too those who acted with kindly compassion, those who bravely risked their own lives for their comrades, and those who in the aftermath of war, worked tirelessly for a more peaceful world.

And as you remember them, remember us, O Lord; grant us peace in our time and a longing for the day when people of every language, race, and nation will be brought into the unity of Christ’s kingdom.

This we ask in the name of the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

A prayer of commemoration for the fallen (The Church of England Website)

Neil Chappell