Masefield Matters Blog Post #1: Introducing Masefield Matters
Masefield Matters, 22nd April 2025
Welcome to the Masefield Matters blog, where we will be posting regular updates on the project as well as other John Masefield inspired places, people and ideas. In this first post, we’ll be exploring the beginning of the project and what we plan to do over the next few years.
John Masefield was a best-selling poet and author from Ledbury, eventually becoming Poet Laureate between 1930 and 1967. Since his death, he has since faded from public memory. The Masefield Matters project was started to explore his legacy through a range of events celebrating his work, his life, and the things that mattered to him. The project will finish with a memorial celebrating John Masefield's 150th anniversary in 2028. The form this memorial takes will be chosen by you, the community through a series of consultation workshops.
The Masefield Matters project is run by Ledbury Town Council, with support from the John Masefield Society (see their website for more information on what they do, as well as a biography of John Masefield and a bibliography of his work). In 2024, the project received a £222,000 grant from the National Heritage Lottery Fund, to whom we are immensely grateful.
The project has two main goals; to bring Masefield back into the public consciousness in Ledbury, and to produce a memorial to him so that he will always be remembered here. We are currently planning a range of engagement activities for the community of Ledbury to take part in, where we will be celebrating John Masefield’s poems and novels, as well as inspiring creativity and artistic expression. Then you will get a say in how he will be memorialised.
Our launch event in January featured poetry read by Sara-Jane Arbury and the story of John Masefield by Caroline Magnus, great niece of John Masefield, and member of the John Masefield Society. Our first event was Ledbury’s World Bookfest in St. Katherine’s Hall. This brought stories to life on World Book Day, and gave children the opportunity to make masks and boxes based on Masefield’s The Midnight Folk and The Box of Delight. We have plenty more events coming over the summer, so stay tuned!
Visit us on Community Day on 7th June to have a chat and find out more. To find out more about our upcoming events and the poems and life of John Masefield, visit our website or check out our Instagram page @masefield_matters.