The Shoreham Memorial Cross In Kent has led the way as people remember those that have fallen as part of Armistice weekend.
The cross, cut into the steep hills near to Sevenoaks, has been in place since 1920. Samuel Cheesman, a local resident, determined to carve out a cross on the hillside to the west of the village, to commemorate two of his sons and the other men forty-eight men of Shoreham who had been killed during the Great War.
The site was donated by a local landowner, Francis Mildmay, who cut the first turf on Empire Day, 24 May 1920 and it was finished in September of that year.
The cross is cut from the chalk hillside and surrounded by an edging of carved chalk blocks. It is 30m long and 18m wide, the left hand bar being slightly longer than the right to correct the perspective when viewed from the village. In 2021 Historic England designated the cross a scheduled monument.
There is a similar cross in Lenham, near Maidstone.
Over the weekend there were a number of remembrance services across the county. Every major town had a service, including Tunbridge Wells, Maidstone, Dartford, Chatham, West Malling, Rochester, Gillingham, Snodland, Sevenoaks, Tonbrige and Aylesford to name a few.
Thankfully, there were no records of disturbance, as was seen in Central London and all was peaceful and respectful across Kent. .
