This presentation shows how research plays a vital role in the protection of war memorials in England, in both their physical conservation and legal protection. It draws on the First World War Memorials Programme that ran between 2014 and 2018, a joint initiative by Historic England, Imperial War Museums, War Memorials Trust, and Civic Voice, and funded through the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. This programme focused on the care of First World War memorials in England by engaging and training volunteers to complete monument condition surveys; providing funding for monument cleaning, repair and restoration; and involving volunteers in the assessment process to give monuments legal protections through the planning system by Listing. This presentation focuses on the programme’s grants and Listing activities, and is divided in two parts. The first provides the background and an overview of the role of research in physical works and assessment for Listing. The second part uses the Coombe Bissett and Homington war memorial as a case study to look at the topic in more detail. The presentation text accompanying each slide is available in the notes section.