A BLUE plaque that commemorated an Edmonton missionary has been replaced on the wall of her former home on her birthday.

The original plaque for Gladys Aylward fell off the wall in April 2009 and was later found buried and damaged in a skip.

The replacement was put up outside her house, in Cheddington Road, on February 24, funded jointly by Gladys Aylward School and The Enfield Society.

Christine White, Enfield conservation officer, said: “We are delighted that Gladys Aylward’s blue plaque has been returned to her home in Edmonton.

"The Enfield blue plaque scheme is part of a local heritage programme marking figures from the past and the buildings they lived in, and is much valued by local residents.

"There was a lot of strong local feeling when the plaque came off, and we were pleased to help ensure that a replacement was found.”

Born in 1902, Ms Aylward grew up in Edmonton but travelled to China in the 1930s to work as a missionary.

When the Japanese invaded in 1938, she helped evacuate nearly 100 children over the mountains.

Patrick Robinson, from Gladys Aylward School, said: "The school is very proud to have been named after Gladys, and we currently hold a great many of her possessions and artefacts relating to her.

"Our students are planning to catalogue these carefully and display them in the school foyer as soon as possible, as it is very important to us that our young people remain aware of local history.

"We hope to work with The Enfield Society to do this."

Colin Pointer, chairman of The Enfield Society added: "The society is pleased to be associated with restoring this important reminder of one of the borough's former residents, and we look forward to working with the school to further honour the memory of Gladys Aylward and her work.

“We also anticipate working with the council to replace similar historic plaques which are missing."

The plaque can be found at the address 67 Cheddington Road, Edmonton, London, N18.