A GIANT glass poppy-shaped sculpture commemorating over a million dead or missing servicemen and women arrived in Watchet on Thursday as a highlight of the town’s World War One centenary remembrance.

The eight-foot high steel and glass ‘Poppy of Honour’, the brainchild of Somerset ex-soldier Terry Williams, has been on a tour of the West Country.

It was brought to Watchet through the efforts of local archivist and military historian Sara Summers to celebrate the town’s military links.

Sited for the day on The Esplanade near the town’s war memorial, the sculpture contained 1,117 individual poppies, each bearing the name and rank of the killed and missing, plus vials of earth and artifacts from World War One battlefields.

The sculpture was welcomed by members of the town and district councils, sea scouts and the fire service.

A service on The Esplanade was conducted by the Rev Vincent Woods.

Sara said: “We in Watchet are very proud to be hosting this magnificent monument to the lost of the First World War and we have pulled out all the stops to get it here.

“Next to the war memorial was the perfect place for it because some of the names on the sculpture honour men from our town.”