Norfolk nurse honoured at Cathedral event 

The story of Norfolk nurse and First World War heroine Edith Cavell was honoured during a weekend of services and events at Norwich Cathedral.

Edith’s final resting place is at Norwich Cathedral, and the Edith Cavell 110 weekend marked the 110th anniversary of Edith’s death on October 12 1915.
 
Nurses, military representatives, civic dignitaries and experts from across Europe and America were among those to gather at the Cathedral to remember the life and legacy of Edith who during the war nursed soldiers from both sides in occupied Belgium and helped more than 200 Allied soldiers reach safety.
 
The Revd Dr Peter Doll, Norwich Cathedral’s Canon Librarian and Vice Dean, said: “The Edith Cavell 110 weekend was a valuable opportunity to celebrate her life and legacy and to benefit from the work of leading researchers and scholars.

“The inspiration she provides is always fresh. Her words and witness speak as directly to us today as they did to her own time.
“The Cathedral deeply appreciates the contributions made by those who came from near and far to be with us.”
 
Among the highlights of the weekend was a graveside commemoration on Saturday followed by an afternoon symposium entitled New Insights into Edith Cavell’s Life and Legacy which saw experts share reflections from their ongoing research about Edith. A recording of the symposium is available to watch on the Norwich Cathedral Services YouTube Channel.
 
The communion set which Edith used the night before her execution was used in services at the Cathedral throughout the weekend. At Evensong on Sunday, the preacher was Canon Jack MacDonald, Chaplain-General of the Anglican Central Committee in Belgium, and a Canon of Holy Trinity Brussels, where Edith worshipped during her last year in Belgium.
 
A free exhibition called Edith Cavell in her own voice was open in Norwich Cathedral Library throughout the weekend. The exhibition – which aims to tell Edith’s story through her own words, paintings and possessions and also features Edith’s dog Jack – is on display until Tuesday 23 December. The opening times are 10am-4pm Tuesday to Thursday.

About Edith Cavell

Edith Cavell 1865-1915
Born in Swardeston in 1865, Edith Cavell went on to become a pioneer of professional nursing training in Brussels and she nursed soldiers from both sides during the war in occupied Belgium. For nine months she worked with the Belgian underground resistance to shelter over 200 Allied soldiers, helping them escape to neutral Holland. For this she was tried and executed by the Germans on 12 October 1915.
 
The night before her execution, she famously said: “Standing as I do in view of God and eternity, I realise that patriotism is not enough. I must have no hatred or bitterness towards anyone.”
 
Edith’s body was returned to England in May 1919 and, following a funeral in Westminster Abbey, her body was brought home to Norfolk and laid to rest at Life’s Green, next to Norwich Cathedral’s St Saviour’s Chapel which was built as a memorial to Norfolk’s fallen in the First World War.

 
Photo by Bill Smith