Ann Walker’s Memorial Update

There have been plans afoot over the last year to create a memorial for Ann Walker where she is buried in St Matthews Churchyard, Lightcliffe. Her current memorial plaque is under lock and key within the tower (the only remaining structure of the Old St Matthew’s) and we would like to create something more publicly accessible.

Over the last year, we have worked closely with the Friends of St Matthews Churchyard and the Friends of Friendless Churches and are moving forward to make this a reality.

There are essentially 2 stages to this work. The first stage will be the restoration of the original memorial plaque. The second stage will be works to the tower in which the memorial is housed, to make it suitable for public access.

In 2019, we raised funds for initial works to restore the memorial. However, the global pandemic has significantly delayed progress on these works. All funds raised to date for the memorial works are being held in a dedicated fund by the Friends of Friendless Churches (who hold the lease on the tower) for when restoration is able to take place.

The Friends of Friendless Churches have also recently received a grant from the UK government’s Culture Recovery Fund. This means they are currently very busy on a number of other restoration projects, so any works to the tower will likely commence later into 2021.

Despite unforeseen delays along the way, please rest assured that our drive to ensure Ann Walker has a fitting tribute remains as strong as ever, and we will continue to move this forward to ensure she has a memorial deserving of her legacy.