A WAR memorial honouring the sacrifices of 10 men during the First World War has been listed at Grade II ahead of Remembrance Sunday.

The Northbourne War Memorial at St Peter's Church, Didcot, has been listed as part of Historic England's pledge to protect memorials by 2018, marking the WWI centenary.

Reverend Hannah Reynolds said it was a poignant and timely reminder of their sacrifice to the area as the nation prepares to remember all of the fallen from conflicts across the world on Friday.

She said: "For me it is deeply moving that there is recognition of how important our war memorials are to the memory of the nation.

"I have started doing Armistice Day services in Northbourne School and I started doing that when I arrived here and it has been fabulous.

"This year we are having them at the church and just to be able to show the children that these are Northbourne men and they are connected to them through history.

"Having something concrete, well in this case granite, it is a wonderful physical recognition that can be celebrated for eternity."

The Cornish granite wheel-head cross was originally unveiled and dedicated in the grounds of the old St Peter's Church in Church Road, Didcot, in 1921.

The inscription reads: "In grateful memory of the men of Northbourne who gave their lives for their country in the Great War 1914-1919".

The memorial only marks the men who died during the First World War because in the1930s, the village of Northbourne was amalgamated into Didcot, and a new joint memorial was created.

Historic England has pledged to protect up to 2,500 war memorials across the country by 2018.

Director of listing Roger Bowdler said: "Researching, recording and recommending up to 2,500 more war memorials for listing over the next five years is a major task but one that Historic England is proud to undertake.

"These memorials will gain a place on the National Heritage List for England to tell the story of this country’s sacrifice and struggle.

"This is all part of a wider partnership we have forged with War Memorials Trust, Civic Voice and the Imperial War Museums to help communities discover, care for and conserve their local war memorials."

A service will be held at St Peter's Church on Sunday, where a two-minute silence will be observed by the Northbourne Memorial at 11am.

At 2.45pm a parade will start at Edinburgh Drive down to the civic hall for a service at 3pm.

Earlier this year the Didcot branch of the Royal British Legion asked the town council to apply for the Smallbones Recreation Ground to become a centenary field, which protects the land and prevents it from being built on.

It is expected that in 2018 the area will become a centenary field to coincide with the centenary of the First World War.