A memorial commemorating the lives of nine men of the congregation of St Clement’s Church, Ilford, who died in the First World War, is now in the collections at Redbridge Museum. All of the names on this memorial are also featured on the St. Clements Church Roll of Honour (currently displayed at Redbridge Town Hall).
Following the Second World War, the congregation of St. Clement’s dwindled and it proved financially untenable to maintain the building in Park Avenue. In 1977, the church moved to Cecil Hall in Granville Road, less than a hundred metres away, and the old St. Clement’s Church was demolished to make way for an apartment block. It was around this time that arrangements were made to transfer some of the memorials to Redbridge Council.
St. Clement’s Church closed in 2002 and the building is currently known as Jubilee Church.
Sources:
Information kindly provided by Patrick O’Mara
Information also kindly provided by Foster Summerson, former Chairman of the Essex Branch of the Western Front Association.
The Great War Memory and Ritual: Commemoration in the City and East London, 1916-1939 by Mark Connelly, 2002
Council Minutes: LBR Agendas & Minutes 15th May 1977 to 16th May 1978 inclusive, Vol.19, pg 278, Report of the Libraries Committee
Biography available.