THE sale of two ‘precious’ war memorials which had been removed from the setting in which they had sat for more than a century before being sold to an unknown buyer at auction is being looked into by a charity following a public outcry.

It’s understood the two memorial plinths which contain engravings of fallen soldiers’ names were removed from the position they had held for 103 years when Cudworth Methodist Church, on Barnsley Road, closed its doors.

They were sold for just £420 at an auction last year sparking outrage from historians who even tried to purchase them during the sale.

The Chronicle can now reveal the War Memorials Trust which protects tributes to fallen heroes is now looking into the sale having condemned the sale.

Director Frances Morton said: “On November 6 (last year), a colleague wrote to the Methodist Circuit, who we had previously spoken to about these and who we thought were the owners, and the auction house to raise our concerns as is our normal practice.

“We do not support anyone buying war memorials as it risks creating a future market so we ourselves would never bid.

“Sadly, this scenario is not unique and often does not have a good outcome but from time to time we have had success in stopping a sale or finding an alternative outcome.

“In recent years we have worked with eBay and Gumtree to ensure that war memorials are banned from sale on their websites.

“Anyone who comes across these can report them and they should be removed but unfortunately, this is not the case with other auction websites.

“We have seen memorials moved from sites which ban the sale of war memorials to those that do nothing to stop it.

“Due to the diversity of war memorials, it is hard to advocate for a total ban on their sale.

“As such it remains the case that we must approach each situation on a case-by-case basis and advocate for the best possible outcomes.

“As we have no legal powers, we cannot force anyone to do anything but we continually look for ways to persuade relevant parties.

“Our trustees have considered this issue on several occasions over the years but there is no easy answer.

“It is not a new trend but our work to raise awareness and build connections seeks to try and reduce the number of such occurrences.”

Barnsley historian Jane Ainsworth, who attempted to step in to save the memorials before they were sold, said she has no idea as to where they went following the auction’s conclusion.

She added: “We wanted them to be put back on display as they had been for 103 years this very unfortunate experience highlights how vulnerable war memorials are.

“I was delighted when the Cudworth History Group, who had researched all World War One’s fallen from the village, contacted me last month.

“It was an unacceptable thing to sell these.”