Herts and Essex Observer 12 April 1919

Chelmsford Chronicle Friday 8/10/1920 reported: 'ELSENHAM. Village War Memorial. A memorial cross of Clipsham stone on three steps was unveiled at Elsenham on Sunday afternoon by Sir Walter Gilbey, Bart. The cross stands on a site given by Sir Walter in the centre of the village, and is a commanding column, 14ft. high. Elsenham did well in the war, as out of a population 400 no fewer than 107 served their country, of whom 25 fell'. https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000516/19201008/095/0008

Herts and Essex Observer 9 October 1920: Details of unveiling and dedication ceremony

Herts and Essex Observer Friday 25/4/1958 reported: "PARISH OF ELSENHAM. NOTICE WAR MEMORIAL. THE above Memorial, which commemorates the Fallen in the 1914-18 War, has been condemned as unsafe. It is proposed to demolish it, and replace it with a suitable Bronze Plaque. Objections to the removal of the Memorial should be sent to the undersigned within 14 days of the publication of this Notice. W. N. JONES, Hon. Clerk to the Parish Council of Elsenham. Tye Green, Elsenham'. (The bronze plaque that was duly installed subsequently disappeared, so in 1993 the current cross was commissioned and installed). https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003122/19580425/254/0003

http://www.elsenham-history.co.uk/timeline/Timeline.pdf page 76 records re events in Elsenham in 1985: 'January Parish Council states intention to replace the war memorial and to add names of those killed in WWII'.

The War Memorials Trust's records of this memorial can be found at https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/96350/ and at http://www.warmemorials.org/search-grants/?gID=758 (the latter reference gives details of the grant the Trust made in 2010, at which time the memorial bore the names of 25 WW1 casualties: 'Elsenham war memorial cross stands at the junction of the High Street and Station Street in the war memorial gardens. The Latin cross is constructed of stone and stands on a brick base. It is not the original cross but a replacement for one demolished in the 1970s. It is however erected on the original octagonal base that carries the names. In 2009 War Memorials Trust offered a grant of £1,058 towards improving the legibility of the inscriptions on the memorial, of which there was a record, as they had become indistinct due to effects of the weathering of the stone on the incised lettering. This involved cleaning the memorial and re-cutting of the lettering by hand, where required, once cleaning had determined the extent of work required').

https://www.elsenhamwi.co.uk/wi-rememberance-2015 states of the memorial: 'In Elsenham on Saturday November 7, there will be a Remembrance Service in the village’s Memorial Gardens. This year, new names have been placed on the war memorial of those connected to the village who fell in conflict in the years following the First World War. Because 2015 is the Women’s Institute’s centenary year, Elsenham WI has knitted and crocheted over 1,200 poppies, all of which were sold within days. The group has also knitted a wreath remembering those who gave their lives, with different symbols of remembrance, red poppies for those in the services, white poppies symbolising peace, purple poppies for animals lost, a cornflower for remembrance in France, forget-me-knots, which are now an international symbol of remembrance, a white dove of peace and various flowers representing the loss of women’s lives. A field of remembrance will be created at the Elsenham Memorial Gardens, inspired by the display of ceramic poppies at the Tower of London last year. After the service, refreshments will be provided in Elsenham Memorial Hall'.

http://www.elsenham-history.co.uk/misc/miscdocs/Elsenham Village Snapshot The War Memorial.pdf gives a brief outline of the memorial's complicated history

"Lest We Forget: The First World War Memorials of Uttlesford District", published by Recorders of Uttlesford History, 2014; ISBN 978-1-873669-14-3, pages 44 to 47, record the memorial and give biographical details of some of the men commemorated on it. It also comments: 'The memorial originally stood on both Elsenham and Henham land. The first memorial was broken many years ago and a new one was erected on the same base'.