ONE of the country’s greatest war poets is to be remembered with a special service and trail around a cathedral he once loved.

Ripon Cathedral is marking the centenary of Wilfred Owen’s last birthday with readings and the launch of a pilgrimage trail taking in places of significance to the poet.

Much of Owen’s best work was written in Ripon between March and June 1918 and he spent his 25th and last birthday in the city.

His work will be the focus of the special service on March 18, followed by the launch of the trail based on his life and poems.

Four of Owen’s poems, all written in Ripon, will be recited from memory by Sam Gray, vice chairman of the Wilfred Owen Association, during evensong.

The association’s secretary, Yvonne Morris, will read from letters written to his mother.

One records how he spent time sitting quietly in Ripon Cathedral on the afternoon of his birthday less than a week after being posted to an army camp in the city to recover from shell shock.

Owen also enjoyed visiting Fountains Abbey, the Roman remains at Aldborough and swimming in the Ure, but most of all he wanted to write poetry.

The camp was too noisy so he looked for somewhere quiet to concentrate and settled in the attic of a cottage in Borrage Lane in Ripon.

The Very Rev John Dobson, Dean of Ripon, said: “We are proud to mark the cathedral’s connection with Wilfred Owen 100-years to the day that he spent time here on his last birthday and, given the sombre nature of his work, it is very fitting that we should be doing this on Passion Sunday as we prepare for Holy Week.”

Mr Gray added: “The Wilfred Owen Association is delighted to have been asked to participate in evensong and the launch of the pilgrimage.

“We have recited his poems and letters at other places and Ripon is the final stop in my centenary tribute to recite all his poems in the places they were written.

“I have visited the cottage in Borrage Lane and have erected a blue plaque to record that he wrote there.”

The cottage has another potential link to Owen, as a stone ink bottle was found under the floorboards in the attic.

Owen could have stayed on home duty indefinitely, but chose to return to the front line much against the advice of his friend and fellow war poet Siegfried Sassoon who said he would “stab him in the leg” if he went back.

On November 4 he was killed leading a unit over the Sambre-Oise Canal and was awarded the Military Cross for his gallantry at Joncourt.

He was also promoted to Lieutenant.

The service starts at 3.30pm.