This project started in November 2014 with an exhibition in the church about the effects of WW1 on the village of Gayton, and the 15 men who died and were named on the memorial in the church. The exhibition was well attended and many visitors shared their own family stories.

During the week-long exhibition a small selection of sculptures from ‘The Long Shadow of War’ by Clare Abbatt were on view in the church. An evening talk by Dr. John Sunderland called `The Pendulum Of War’ gave an insight into how the British Expeditionary Force foiled the Schlieffen Plan in 1914. In 2017 an embroidered wall hanging, worked by residents of Gayton, commemorating the fallen men was hung on the west wall in the church.

Over the four years of the WW1 Commemorations, information has been collected about how life in Gayton was affected by the war. In addition, many poignant personal stories have been revealed about the fifteen men who died and those who returned from the war.