MEMBERS of the Royal British Legion gathered in Eynsham to celebrate the restoration of its war memorial.

Members of the village’s RBL branch gathered in Market Square for a rededication ceremony yesterday.

The event marked the culmination of two years’ efforts to restore the monument.

Branch secretary Phil Whittaker said: “It had become very grimy and dirty.”

He said that as the branch’s membership had grown older, it had struggled to cope with the demands of maintaining the monument.

He said: “The grass garden, which was a lawn with flowerbeds, had got out of hand. We were trying to keep it up to scratch, but we couldn’t.”

Two years ago it was decided to submit a grant application to the War Memorials Trust for money to help pay for the restoration work.

Last autumn, the branch received just under £2,000 from the trust and, with a further £2,000 raised, the project was given the go-ahead at the end of last year.

Mr Whittaker said: “It does look great and we have had help from the local gardening club with the flowers.

“The memorial has been all power-washed and all of the signs have been repainted.”

The war memorial was originally dedicated in April 1921, to commemorate men from the village who fought and died in the First World War.

It has since been tended to by the Eynsham branch of the Royal British Legion.

The rededication saw more than 50 members of the Legion from Eynsham and surrounding branches gather for the open-air ceremony, which was followed by a service in the adjacent St Leonard’s Church.

Sue Lee, the clerk of Eynsham Parish Council, said it was fantastic to see the memorial restored.

She added: “We have been able to see its restoration throughout the different stages and now it looks absolutely fantastic.

“The parish council identified this as something that really needed to be done and we were more than happy to get involved, organise and help with funding the project. It’s a real asset to the village once again.”