Rotherham memorial church

The Anglican Church of St Mary the Virgin, Rotherham, near Culverden, was opened on Anzac Day 1918. Despite the date, the church does not seem to have been dedicated as a war memorial church (‘Anzac Day’, The Colonist, 1/5/1918, p. 4). The brass plaque in the church which records the opening reads, THE CHURCH OF ST MARY THE VIRGIN. / BUILT 1918. / DEDICATED BY THE RIGHT REVEREND / THE / LORD BISHOP OF NELSON. / ON ST MARK’S DAY. (ANZAC DAY) 1918, but was not installed until 8 September 1927, the day the church was consecrated.

However, there is a three-light stained glass memorial window in the apse, dedicated to the memory of Lieutenant Francis Davison, killed at Gallipoli on 7 August 1915.  This was presented to the church by his widow and unveiled in May 1923 (‘The Country’, Press, 30/5/1923, p. 3).The names of six members of the parish who died in the Second World War are also listed on a memorial lectern.