The Branch

The Royal British Legion is the UK’s leading Armed Forces charity and one of its largest membership organisations. 

Boxted Branch Committee meets at 7.45pm on the first Thursday of every month at the club house in Boxted. Members are invited to attend quarterly meetings as notified by the committee. 

Membership is open to everyone. If you have an interest in the objectives of the Legion and want to help and support those who have served and their families, come and join us. We welcome men and women of all ages, whether they have served in the Armed Forces or not.

For more information on how to join, please email Boxted.Secretary@rbl.community or visit our website .

Our History

The Boxted Branch of the Royal British Legion was formed in 1935 by ex-servicemen of the 1st World War. The first President was Capt. G.H. Swift who lived at Cheshunts in Church Street. Col. Guy Blewitt was the first chairman with Mr T.F. Alderton as the original secretary.

Their major remit was to help ex-servicemen with their health and pension problems. Committee meetings were held in the Priory Hall which acted as the village hall at the time. Committee members paid 6 pence (2½p) each meeting towards the purchase of bricks to build the hut. Members subscription was half a crown – 2/6d (12½p).

The hut, on Straight Road, was built from 2 Nissun huts bought from the POW camp at Wrabness, for £30 each. Mr Geater, who ran the garage in the village, transported the huts free of charge while Col. Waller, who lived at Boxted Lodge, sold a 50-year lease on the land to the Legion for a peppercorn rent. The hut was finally opened in 1948 when a small bottle of beer cost 9d while a large brown ale was 1/8d. The hut was heated by two tortoise stoves – one in the middle and the other at the far end. Beer was supplied by Ind, Coope and Allsopp who also provided the chairs for the hut.

The Gant family are prominent figures in our Branch history. Harry was secretary from 1937 until 1964 when his son Eric took over; at this time there were over 300 members. Both Eric and Harry were awarded the Legion’s Gold badge and Eric had the great honour of carrying the Boxted Standard at two British Legion Remembrance celebrations in the Albert Hall – in 1964 and 1988. In 2015 Boxted was again represented by the current Standard Bearer, Barry Took.