Ferndown carved stone will commemorate Lt John Thornton (From Bournemouth Echo)

Ferndown carved stone will commemorate Lt John Thornton

7:00pm Wednesday 17th March 2010 in

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A CIRCULAR stone to commemorate a fallen Ferndown soldier will be the first in a new community memorial planned for the town.

The carved stone will commemorate the sacrifice of Lt John Thornton, 22, the Royal Marine who was killed by a roadside bomb in Helmand Province while serving with 40 Commando in March 2008.

The polished Purbeck stone to be laid in his memory will be the first in an expanding circle in Ferndown’s Millennium Garden at Peter Grant Way.

Organiser Cllr Lesley Dedman said: “It will be a wonderful piece of art in a beautiful setting. We feel we are adding to what is already there in a way that is both wanted and needed.”

A National Lottery grant of £9,000 will provide the bulk of the funding for the project. The town council has agreed to donate £1,000 but further funding is sought from local businesses.

Three designs for a bronze centrepiece are under consideration, including a floral design reminiscent of a poppy.

An ongoing project will be launched to landscape the garden, with floral beds and commemorative benches likely to feature.

The total cost of the memorial is estimated at between £7,500 and £10,000, with some £2,500 budgeted for the bronze centrepiece and a further £4,500 set aside for the Purbeck stones. Some of the costs will be recouped from the sale of sponsored stones.

Work is set to begin soon and organisers hope to complete the memorial by Remembrance Day.