A CHRISTMAS tree in Wotton-under-Edge has been decorated in 114 poppies to commemorate individual soldiers from the town who died during the First World War.

The tree in the Wotton Historical Society and Heritage Centre has been covered in the 114 poppies, each with the name of soldiers from the area who sacrificed their lives.

The tree was decorated on Monday, December 1, ready to be exhibited during the town’s vintage Christmas market the following Sunday.

500 men from Wotton fought in the war and the 114 who didn’t come back are being commemorated by the poppy display.

David Baird, who works at the centre and came up with the idea said: “It was the first thing I thought of, over a year ago, when we decided to display what happened to Wotton during World War One.

“We’ve put a Christmas tree up here for the past three years and we thought it would look good and remember the men from the town. We thought the tree with the poppies would be enough decoration, without lights or anything else.

“Quite a few people came in to see it during the vintage market day on Sunday, December 7 to see the tree and spend time looking where the soldiers lived, seeing how close they would have been to their own homes. We’ve had a really good reaction so far.

“We also have a map of Wotton marked with red dots where the individual men lived in the town, who sacrificed during the war.”

The centre in The Chipping has been displaying war themed exhibitions to members of the public throughout the year after been awarded a £7,500 national lottery grant for the project.

The exhibits, displayed from May 2014 to May next year, show how Wotton was affected by World War One and currently features a full size trench look-out post alongside the Christmas tree.

Janet Walshe, from the Heritage Centre, said: “It’s a lovely idea. During the vintage market on Sunday, the centre was really busy with lots of people coming through and seeing the tree and the poppies. We are encouraging people to please come along and see it.”

The poppies will come down on Saturday, December 20 ready for the centre to change the exhibition.