A DUDLEY village finally has a war memorial – more than 100 years after the end of the First World War.

The ‘beautiful’ new memorial has been erected to face the centre of Sedgley village.

Until now the village's uniformed organisations have had to place their commemorative wreaths at the steps of the chancel within All Saints' Church to remember the village's war dead each November.

The special memorial was installed last Friday by J and A Monuments of Blackheath just in time for Remembrance Sunday.

The plinth and obelisk are made from a highly-polished variegated type of granite specially imported from India. Its shape echoes the spire of All Saints' Church behind it.

Sedgley village's coat of arms consisting of the Beacon Tower and Staffordshire Knot logos were sandblasted into the granite and then hand-painted in blue and gold.

At 10am on Remembrance Sunday, the organising group behind the memorial project gathered in Gospel End Street Gardens, Sedgley, to dedicate the new monument.

The church was unable to hold its annual Remembrance Sunday service because of Covid restrictions, but local people gathered informally in the gardens, observing the 2-metre rule, to hear a recording of the Last Post, observe the 2-minute silence and then hear the Reveille.

Funding for the memorial has come from Sedgley Community Fund, Sedgley Ex-Servicemen's Club and a private donor.