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The Blackhall History Group have worked with Monk Hesleden Parsh Council to provide a War Memorial for Hesleden.  The unveiling of the new War Memorial, which took place on 4th October 2017 involved children from the local school.  Eight children, four of whom have relatives named on the memorial, performed the unveiling.

The unveiling was reported on the local news: https://www.itv.com/news/tyne-tees/2017-10-04/war-memorial-unveiled-in-hesleden-in-county-durham/

The memorial is listed on the North East War Memorials website: http://www.newmp.org.uk/detail.php?contentId=11647

Three wooden crosses, the original grave markers from France, are also situated in the Methodist Church in Hesleden.  Two of these crosses bear the names of two men from Hesleden who lost their lives during the First World War; Private John Haswell and Private John Fairhurst.  The third is for an unknown soldier and has the words “Field of Remembrance” incised on it.  The crosses were originally housed at St John’s Church in Hesleden.  After the closure of this church, the crosses were given to the Durham Light Infantry (DLI) Collection.  The crosses have now been returned to the village from the DLI collection to be on permanent display at the church.

For further information on the crosses:

http://thereturned.co.uk/crosses/hesleden-hesleden-methodist-church-co-durham/

http://www.newmp.org.uk/article.php?categoryid=100&articleid=1365

Mildred Tempest, the niece of John Haswell submitted information about how the crosses came to be in Hesleden which can be found on the Durham at War site.