THE Scots Guards have been offered the honorary freedom of Wantage — marking a historic link dating to the Crimean War.

The town council last week voted unanimously to make the gesture, to both honour soldiers still fighting in Afghanistan and to celebrate the life of Robert Lindsay, who won a Victoria Cross fighting with the regiment in 1854 and went on to become the first Lord Wantage.

The town’s mayor, Jim Sibbald, said the council decided to make the offer to honour both serving soldiers and the town’s most famous benefactor.

The Scots Guards council will decide whether to accept when it next meets in December.

If it does, the Guards will have the right to march through Wantage with swords drawn, bayonets fixed, drums beating, bands playing and the regimental colours flying.

Mr Sibbald, a former major in the Royal Artillery, said: “We often forget the old heroes, and now we have got another generation of heroes out in Afghanistan upholding the heritage of the regiment’s past. Throughout their distinguished history, the Scots Guards have proved themselves to be exemplary soldiers, as can be seen by their engagements in recent conflicts.

“We know the Scots Guards were a huge influence on Lord Wantage, shaping him in his dealings for the betterment of the town and the nation.”

Lockinge Estate owner Thomas Loyd, who is related to Lord Wantage’s wife, Harriet Jones-Loyd, said: “I think it is a wonderful idea. It is very good that through this scheme, Wantage will have a connection with the military at this very important time andshow its support for our armed forces, whilst linking in with that historical connection with the Scots Guards.”

Local brewer Peter Fowler, of Pitstop Brewery, has pledged to create a special Russian stout, named Sevastopol, after the Crimean siege Lindsay was part of, if the Scots Guards accept the invitation.

Robert Lindsay became one of the first recipients of the Victoria Cross for two different acts of valour. His citation describes how at the Battle of Alma, he rallied his men around the regimental colours to hold ground against an enemy onslaught, while at the Battle of Inkerman, “at a most trying moment, he, with a few men, charged a party of Russians, driving them back and running one through the body himself”.

He moved to Lockinge after the war, when the estate was given to him as a wedding present on his marriage. He served as the town’s MP, helped found the British Red Cross, and supported dozens of local establishments, including King Alfred’s School and the Wantage Tramway Company.

In 1885, he was made Baron Wantage of Lockinge, and presented the statue of King Alfred —which holds pride of place in the Market Place — to the town.