Parishioners of a Tinwell church have sent a crucifix back to its rightful home after safeguarding the battlefield memorabilia for over a century.

A crucifix saved from a church at The Somme during the First World War and brought to Britain has been returned to France after more than 100 years.

The cross was rescued from the rubble of a French church in Doingt-Flamicourt which was destroyed during the bloody conflict in 1916. 

The building was hit by crossfire as Allied forces and the German army fought along the Western Front trench lines during the Battle of the Somme.

A crucifix was rescued from a French battlefield over a century ago and taken to Rutland, UK. Image credit: SWNS.

The crucifix was later plucked from the mud of the battlefield by a British reverend and had proudly sat on the altar of All Saints' Church in Tinwell, Rutland, since 1936.

But after parishioners recently discovered the church in France had since been rebuilt they decided it should return to its rightful home after 107 years.

And this weekend a group of 14 churchgoers set out on the 297-mile pilgrimage to reunite the village with the cross at its new church, which was built in the 1920s.

The crucifix was returned in a moving ceremony on Saturday 1 July, which was the 107th anniversary of the start of the Battle of the Somme.

The team in Franch welcomed the crucifix back to the church this July, 2023. Image credit: SWNS.

The Rev Olwen Woolcock, vicar of All Saints, said: "I think it's a symbol of hope, and the promise of new life – which is exactly what Jesus is. 

"A village once destroyed is rebuilt; where there was trauma and death in 1917, today there is life and community.

"It was a wonderful feeling doing that service. I was very conscious it was the right place for it to be. It feels great to bring the crucifix back to where it belongs.

"This village looks after more than 400 war graves, it tends the graves and they have their own acts of remembrance.

"It's felt very meaningful as well because of the link that we have made with this community through returning the crucifix.

"The crucifix is like the last piece of the jigsaw in that restoration." 

Fr Jean-Louis Brunel, vicar of the church of Notre-Dame-de-L'Assomption in Doingt said: "For the church and for the village this crucifix is like a relic because it was kept and protected for more than 100 years.

"So coming back is something very precious. This cross is a sign of people today and friendship with England. 

"We are very impressed with the idea of Tinwell parish to give back the cross and hope there will be friendships between the two communities for some time."

The crucifix is now back in France, much to the delight of the local worshippers. Image credit: SWNS.

Doingt and its church were almost completely destroyed during the Battle of the Somme, which claimed over 300,000 lives and wiped many settlements off the map.

The village and its church were rebuilt following the armistice and the crucifix is seen as a precious link between its devastation and restoration.

It was believed to be originally rescued from the battlefield by Reverend Percy Lane Hooson who served on the Somme in 1917 with the Church Army.

He later became vicar of All Saints Church and put the crucifix, which is French in style with a shortened top with a guilded metal figure of Chris, on display.

The party also included parishioner June Dodkin, who spent almost five years liaising with church representatives in Doingt to arrange the trip.

June said: "It will be five years in November since the suggestion was made to return the crucifix at our 2018 Remembrance Service.

"It's very exciting. I can't really believe it's happening after all this time."

June co-ordinated much of the visit with Hubert Boizard, a member of the local history group, Mémoire de Doingt-Flamicourt. 

A war time crucufix has been returned to its home in France after a century of being in a Tinwell church. Image credit: SWNS.

Hubert said: "This resonates all the more strongly as the war in Ukraine reminds us that freedom is a value that must always be defended.

"This crucifix has a very strong symbolic value as a token of peace and hope.

"The region is sensitive to the fate of all the young British soldiers who died on our soil.

"The return of the crucifix symbolises the friendship between our two nations who fought together for freedom."

The group also visited the Commonwealth war cemetery in Doingt where Chas McDevitt, from Tinwell, played the last post.

He said: "I think we didn't realise the significance until we'd actually come here.

"For us we were caretakers and now it's this aspect of permanence coming back to the church in Doingt."

As part of his research, Hubert also found a description of the devastated church as it was found by its priest, Father Carton.

His diary read: "The church of Doingt is down, except for the two side walls, the apse, the main altar.

"To get to the altar, I had to climb up a pile of rubble, made of whole beams, pieces of ceiling or vault, debris from the pulpit, bricks, slates."