Memorial Poppy Project

With the centenary of the outbreak of the First War taking place in August 2014, a small group of staff at Linlithgow Academy decided that it would be fitting to commemorate one of the most significant events in history by developing a series of cross curricular projects related to the war.

One of the projects which evolved from this meeting was to try to find out more about the 27 former pupils who gave their lives for their country between 1914 and 1919 and whose names are engraved on a Memorial Plaque in the school. These pages reveal what has been discovered about the 27.

There are also Timelines to show where and when the 27 men died within the context of the war.

A complementary project was also developed to create a new memorial to those fallen ex-pupils.

The major art installation the Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red created by artists Paul Cummins and Tom Piper at the Tower of London filled the Tower's moat between 17th July and 11th November 2014 with 888,246 ceramic poppies. Each poppy represented a British military fatality during the First World War.

The stunning display at the Tower of London inspired one of the school's Art teachers, Laura Watts, to propose the idea that Linlithgow Academy should create our own memorial poppies to remember those who fell in First World War. She drew up an installation proposal as a joint project to be worked on between the Art and Design and Craft and Design Technology departments. The original design was for metal poppies but this evolved into the poppies being made of red acrylic as this would allow light to shine through them.

The poppies were designed and created by a small group of Craft Design and Technology pupils during the Autumn term. The poppies were produced in time for Remembrance Day and were 'planted' in a memorial garden. The garden was dedicated in a ceremony held on 11th November 2014.