A MONUMENT featuring poppies in the shape of a cross has been put in place at the grounds of the Windleshaw Chantry.

Over recent years, the grounds which features one of the area’s most historic structures, have been renovated by a team of tireless volunteers.

Historian Ted Forsyth and the group, called ‘Chantry St Helens’, formed on Facebook and have worked hard to tidy up and uncover graves at the site.

The group meets each weekend to work on the grounds surrounding the Windleshaw Chantry, known commonly as the ‘abbey’.

The volunteer group got together with the aim to make the area more friendly for visitors and to make the area a fitting commemoration to its rich history.

The chantry’s 600th anniversary was celebrated in 2015 after historian Ted had uncovered its origins finding a copy of a letter, dated June 21 1415 to Thomas Gerard Knight, Lord of Windle Manor in St Helens Central Library Archives.

The monument has been put together after hours of painstaking work by Ted and the group, with models of soldiers included at the side of it and the number '100' prominent.

Ted said: “Last year, I rang the council and asked what they did with the poppies at the Cenotaph, so I said could I have them and that we would do a monument.

“We ended up doing it like the cross itself and we have put a ‘100’ in front of it. We have all worked to put it together.”