Remembrance Day service commemorates 100th anniversary of the end of the Great War

Armistice Day will be marked with a Service of Remembrance, led by the University’s Anglican Chaplain, Reverend Hannah Alderson, in the Mary Harris Memorial Chapel on Streatham Campus.

Beginning at 7pm, the service is open to everyone and will feature a poignant, candlelit performance of Faure’s Requiem, sung by the University of Exeter’s Chapel Choir.

There will be a reading of names of the 75 students and alumni who have died in conflict, the laying of wreaths, prayers and poetry.

The chapel is home to a memorial plaque that was installed three years ago to remember Exeter’s alumni who have died in war since 1945, including two servicemen who were killed in Afghanistan in 2011.

“Remembrance Sunday is a time when we give thanks for those who have given their lives in armed conflict” said Reverend Hannah Alderson.

“For many, it brings feelings of pride and gratitude for the courage of those who fought in the World Wars and conflicts since, and those who made sacrifices in many other ways. We are also reminded of the horrors of war, not only in the past but in our world today. As we look back, we also look to the future, and commit ourselves to peace.

As members of the University community, we particularly remember those students of this University and its founding institutions who have died in armed conflict. Their names are recorded on memorial plaques in the Mary Harris Memorial Chapel. It is a sobering reminder of the sacrifices that were asked of these young people, many of whom were of a similar age to our youngest undergraduates.”

The University Anglican Chaplaincy is also leading the official City of Exeter Service at Northernhay Gardens on Sunday at 10.30am. The University of Exeter Chapel Choir will be joining the service to sing as wreaths are laid.

As well as the remembrance events taking place in Exeter, the University’s Penryn Campus will be holding an Armistice Day commemoration at the Penryn Memorial Gardens on Sunday at 10.45am. There will also be a commemorative service in the Camborne School of Mines Museum on Monday at 10.45am.

The University of Exeter has had to play its part in the British war effort during both World Wars, with the University’s Streatham estate playing an important role during the Second World War.

The Washington Singer building became a workshop and testing laboratory for the Royal Aircraft Establishment, while Mardon Hall, which has been home to generations of students, was used as a rest centre for American Troops and the land on the estate was used to grow food to help feed a nation under rationing.