St. Mary's Church is the focal point for the commemoration of West Rainton's contribution to the war effort during the First World War, and indeed in later conflicts. The church itself contains a number of WW1 memorials including rolls of honour dedicated to parishioners and plaques donated by families in remembrance of fallen relatives, whilst outside by one of the walls in the grounds of the church is the more traditional freestanding memorial in the form of a stone scroll. The scroll was originally made as a WW1 monument and then it was either adapted to accommodate WW2 names or was completely recommissioned - exactly what happened is unknown.