“IT is delightfully meaningful.”

Those are the words of the High Sheriff of Hampshire, Lady Louisa Portal, who officially opened Whitchurch’s new First World War memorial textile art, Sowings For New Spring, last weekend.

The Queen’s judicial representative in the county was joined by North West Hampshire MP Kit Malthouse, the Mayor of Basingstoke Councillor Anne Court and members of the town council on Saturday to finally unveil the piece.

It will now permanently remain on display in the town hall offices.

Speaking at the unveiling of the textile art, Lady Portal said: “I think it is wonderful.

“I think it’s so bold and I congratulate the artist for creating such a memorable piece.

“It’s delightfully meaningful and it really draws the observer in – it’s so positive and hopeful.”

Also at the official opening was the artist of Sowings For New Spring, Rhiannon Williams.

The 26-year-old H&M designer was commissioned to create the piece in October last year after a panel of expert judges selected her design from a group of 12 entries.

Speaking about the unveiling, Stockholm-based Miss Williams said: “I was apprehensive about how people would react to it but I’ve been really taken back by all the positive comments.

“It’s the biggest piece of embroidery I’ve ever done, taking almost 1,000 hours, so to hand it over was a big moment for me.

“I hope that the people of Whitchurch will see it as a hopeful, inspiring, and poignant memorial to the bravery of those affected by the war.”

The piece, which is named from an extract of Wilfred Owen’s sonnet 1914, contains material from the town’s silk mill and is designed, like the poem, to symbolise the need for peace and remembrance.

The project as a whole cost just under £5,000 and was paid for through various council grants, including from Hampshire County Council, and a donation by Rupert Nabarro, chairman of the Whitchurch Silk Mill Trust.

Town councillor Claire Isbester was one of those heavily involved in the project and she hoped that the textile art would prove to be a suitable memorial.

She said: “This was a truly collaborative project and would not have been possible without the people of Whitchurch contributing their stories, or the insight of the panel of judges, or the support of the funders.

“The next part of the impact of Sowings for New Spring will be the effect it has on people who come to look at it.

“If each person who sees it spends some time remembering and reflecting on the impact of war then it will really be a memorial.”