The future of a village war memorial has been secured after it was granted listed status.

Historic England made an assessment of the war memorial in St Peter and St Paul’s Church, in Little Gransden, in April and has since agreed to grant it a Grade II listing, protecting it against the impact of future development.

The stone memorial, which takes the form of a Celtic wheel-head cross, was unveiled in around 1920 with the names of five men from the village who died in the First World War; John W Searle, Leet Huckle, William R Giddings, Arthur Fuller, and Frank Smith.

An addition was made to the plinth of the memorial after the Second World War, with more names added.

Historic England has pledged to protect 2,500 memorials by 2018, marking the centenary of the First World War.

Roger Bowdler, director of listing at Historic England, said: “Researching, recording and recommending up to 2,500 more war memorials for listing over the next five years is a major task but one that Historic England is proud to undertake.

“These memorials will gain a place on the National Heritage List for England to tell the story of this country’s sacrifice and struggle.”

Historic England has pledged to list a total of 2,500 war memorials over the centenary of the First World War. Members of the public are being invited to put their war memorials forward for listing.

This is all part of a wider partnership forged with War Memorials Trust, Civic Voice and the Imperial War Museums to help communities discover, care for and conserve their war memorials.

The programme is providing up to £2million in grants for war memorial repair and conservation and hundreds of workshops to teach people how to record their memorials and put them forward for listing.

For more information on listing: www.historicengland.org.uk/listingwarmemorials