Seven villagers killed in conflict have been remembered with a plaque – unveiled 100 years after their deaths.

Tolpuddle has never had a war memorial, and with 2018 being the centenary year since peace was declared marking the end of the First World War, church and village hall members got together to plan something extra special.

Philippa Francis, of St John the Evangelist parochial church council, and Margaret Clark, of the village hall committee, joined forces to make the project a success.

Mrs Francis said: “For reasons that are not entirely clear, Tolpuddle has no war memorial. It may be because it was a very small village in those days.

“In April or May this year the wife of the chairman of the village hall had asked how we were going to commemorate the centenary and that’s how the idea for the project came about.”

A grant of £500 was donated from the West Dorset District Council Centenary Fund, and the rest of the money required was raised by generous villagers.

Mrs Francis added: “The grant indicated that it was a very possible project and we ran two items in the parish magazine and put out collection boxes. People responded very well and we reached the target quite quickly.”

As well as the plaque – made from Portland stone – research was undertaken to find out about the men who died, and a presentation was given about their lives and deaths at the unveiling ceremony on Saturday.

Six of the men died in the First World War while the seventh man died in the Second World War.

Mrs Francis said she was ‘delighted’ with the enthusiastic response from villagers for the scheme.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission was able to help with two of the names while a former Dean of Canterbury Cathedral, who used to live in Tolpuddle, put together a list of five of the men who died.

Mrs Francis added: “It was important that it wasn’t just a list of names on a plaque.

“A lot of research was carried out into who these men were, and how they died. There was a presentation about it at the unveiling event and we will also be producing a booklet for the church.”

After the unveiling of the plaque by West Dorset District Council Chairman Peter Shorland at St John’s Church in Tolpuddle, there was a short service of Remembrance in the church, followed by tea in the village hall and presentations relating to the First World War.