Lewisham's two Remembrance Sunday services start at 10.55am on 8 November at the Lewisham and Deptford war memorials, with the silence at 11am. Where both are.

Remembrance Sunday 2026 falls on Sunday 8 November. The two-minute silence is at 11am, as it is everywhere.

Lewisham runs two civic services, not one, and they happen at the same time in different places. If you turn up at the wrong memorial you have missed it, because both are over by about 11.40am.

Both 2026 services start at 10.55am and end around 11.40am, the council confirmed on 23 September. Each includes a wreath-laying, and order of service sheets are handed out at both sites.

Updated 3 October: the council has published the 2026 arrangements, with start times, the Lewisham service leader and the parades.

The two civic services

Both are at war memorials, both start at 10.55am and both end around 11.40am. Neither is sheltered, and the council advises dressing for the weather.

Service Where Nearest landmark
Lewisham civic service Lewisham War Memorial, Lewisham High Street Directly opposite Lewisham Hospital
Deptford civic service Deptford War Memorial, corner of Lewisham Way and Upper Brockley Road Between New Cross and Brockley

In 2026 the Lewisham service is led by Fr David Adamson-Hill of St Mary the Virgin, Lewisham, with council members, faith leaders, a Deputy Lieutenant and armed forces representatives. A parade of local armed forces groups comes before and after it. Fr Adamson-Hill also led it in 2025, alongside Deputy Lieutenant Sir Steve Bullock.

The Deptford service has a Deputy Lieutenant, council members and local faith leaders taking part; the council has not named who leads it this year. In 2025 it was led by the Rev Chris Hanning of St John’s Church, with Deputy Lieutenant Kate Heaps.

There was a third fixture last year that gets missed. The chapel at Hither Green Cemetery and Crematorium opened from 1.30pm to 4pm as a quiet space for reflection; the 2026 announcement does not mention it, in the afternoon rather than the morning, so it does not clash with either service.

What the parade actually looks like

The Deptford one is worth knowing about if you have children in a uniformed group. In 2025 the community groups did not assemble at the memorial. They gathered first at Lewisham College, then marched from there to the Deptford War Memorial for the service.

Squirrels, Beavers and Brownies took part, alongside the college’s first cohort of public services students, who helped people cross the road and managed traffic during the silence. The MP for Deptford and Lewisham North, Vicky Foxcroft, the Deputy Mayor and the college principal, Jamie Stevenson, attended.

That last detail is the practical one. There is no published road closure order for either service. Traffic on Lewisham Way and Lewisham High Street is held on the day rather than sealed off in advance, so if you are driving through Lewisham or New Cross late on that Sunday morning, expect a short stop rather than a diversion.

Getting there and parking

Both memorials are on main roads with no dedicated event parking.

  • Lewisham War Memorial is a few minutes’ walk from Lewisham station and the bus interchange. Lewisham Hospital’s car park is across the road and is for patients and visitors, not for the service.
  • Deptford War Memorial sits on the junction of Lewisham Way and Upper Brockley Road, roughly midway between New Cross and Brockley stations, both about a ten-minute walk.

Sunday controlled parking is limited in Lewisham, but the streets around both memorials fill up. Our parking in Lewisham page has the borough’s zones and charges, our roadworks and travel page covers anything dug up on the approach, and trains to London has the line detail.

Armistice Day is separate

Armistice Day 2026 is Wednesday 11 November. The silence is again at 11am. That is the anniversary itself, and it is marked in workplaces, schools and stations rather than by a borough parade, so it does not replace the Sunday services.

What happened last year

The council’s own account of the 2025 day, published on 10 November, named services at St Mary the Virgin, at the Deptford War Memorial and at the Hither Green chapel. Wreaths were laid by the Mayor, Brenda Dacres, the Speaker, Cllr Jacq Paschoud, local MPs, and representatives of the armed forces and community organisations.

The council also used the day to mark First World War servicemen from Deptford who died after the war and were buried in graves that had gone unmarked, and which have now been identified.

For questions, including accessibility, the council’s Civic Events Team is at CivicEvents@lewisham.gov.uk.

The rest of the borough’s November

  • The Blackheath Fireworks are on Saturday 7 November, the night before Remembrance Sunday, with the display at 8pm; the licence was granted in September. Our Blackheath Fireworks page has the times, gates and closures.
  • Christmas tree switch-ons start in the last week of November across about fifteen town centres. See Lewisham Christmas lights.
  • Cinderella opens at the Broadway Theatre in Catford on 9 December. See the Catford pantomime.

Sources