A time capsule containing elements of local history and community memory is to be sealed within the Shrine during the memorial's Rededication Ceremony.
We are calling for donated artefacts and suggestions for the contents of the time capsule - which will have a duration of 92 years, with a final opening date in the year 2101.
Harry Willis Fleming, of the Willis Fleming Historical Trust said: "It will be 92 years since the Shrine was first dedicated in 1918, and we hope and believe that the restored Shrine will endure for at least 92 more - without falling back into dereliction. One of the aims of the restoration project is to make the renewed Shrine a lasting station of local memory, in an area that is otherwise in danger of losing its historic identity. North Stoneham has a history stretching back 2000 years, but has become squeezed between Southampton and Eastleigh, and changed and threatened by urban development."
The time capsule will be a record of the area's identity, containing items that reflect the spirit of North Stoneham, past and present. The project particularly seeks to capture North Stoneham's sense of place, and to record living memory - and the community's feelings about these. Items placed inside the capsule might include handwritten memories, photographs, drawings, letters to the future, and small objects.
The artist Jane Wildgoose, who is a trustee of the Willis Fleming Historical Trust, will be the curator of the time capsule. She said: "Much of my work as an artist is concerned with exploring ways in which people today associate memories and stories with objects and places. As part of my involvement with the restoration project I shall be leading workshops that explore these themes and relate them to the originating principles of the war shrine. The time capsule builds on this idea, offering an opportunity for people to become personally involved in a collective act of commemoration at North Stoneham that will, I hope, encourage a close sense of identity with, and ownership of, the restoration project - and, by extension, the Shrine itself - both now and into the long term future."
The Willis Fleming Historical Trust will also contribute artefacts that relate to the history of the Shrine and its historic site, including some personal items connected with 2nd Lieut. Richard Willis Fleming who was killed in 1916.
