HARPUR
HILL WAR MEMORIAL
World
War 1 - Detailed Information
Compiled and copyright © Carol Gilman 2009
The Harpur Hill Memorial stands in Burlow Road, Harpur Hill, Buxton,
Derbyshire, and is a unique part of village history erected in 1924
in memory of local quarry workers who gave their lives in the First
World War. The memorial and surrounding land was given to the village
by Buxton Lime Firms Ltd. And the limestone was supplied from the local
Hoffman Quarry. The nine ton boulder was transported from the quarry
to the village on a bogie, and erected by work mates of the men who
died. It was dedicated in 1928. The memorial has been under threat on
many occasions and in 1981 work was in process to develop the area as
a car park. Carol Gilman and her mother Betty Lindsay decided that the
only way in which they could save the memorial was to try and make it
a listed building. They made a video of the area and submitted photos
of the damage that was happening to the outer posts belonging to the
site. They sent it to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and
also enlisted the help of Friends of the War Memorials, the Local Council
and the Women's Institute who have always campaigned for the memorial.
Today it stands as a building of special architectural and historic
interest as a Grade 2 listed building, proud and protected. When it
was built in the centre of the village it stood proudly in an open setting
next to a bowling green and club house built for the quarry workers.
Alas now the bowling green is now a housing development and the memorial
is at the front of a car park. The Roll of Honour is in Bronze by L
F Roslyn, R.B.S., London. The names here have been sorted into alphabetical
order for ease of reading.
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Picture
above taken from ICI Magazine July 1928 |
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Photograph
Copyright © Carol Gilman 2009 |
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Dedicated
to "The Memory Of The Men Of Harpur Hill Who Gave Their Lives In
The Great War 1914-1919"
BENNETT |
Edward |
Lance
Corporal 31885, 17th Battalion, Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire
and Derbyshire Regiment). Killed in action whilst attempting to
rescue a comrade after the explosion of a mine, while serving
in the trenches at Gorre France in 22nd May 1916 [both CWGC and
SDGW]. Aged 28. Born in Harpur Hill in 1888. The son of Edward
and Ellen Bennett of 26 Rock Bank Harpur Hill. Mr Bennett worked
in the local quarry and enlisted in October 1915 at Buxton and
served with the 15th Platoon, 'D' Company. He was only in the
army for 8 months. The local paper at the time gave his date of
death as Sunday 21st May 1916. He was the first man from Harpur
Hill to be killed in the First World War. IN 1911 he was listed
in the census as being a Waggoner at the Limestone Works, aged
22, his father and brothers Robert, David and Walter all worked
at the Limestone Works. He is buried at Le Touret Military Cemetery,
France. Plot III. Row F. Grave 26.
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BENNETT |
William |
Private
22818, 1st Battalion, Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire
Regiment). Killed in action when in the attack at Andover France
on the 4th March 1917. Born in Hartington, enlisted Buxton, resident
Lardmanton [SDGW]. He worked at the local quarry and lived in Ladmanlow,
Buxton. No known grave. He is commemorated on Thiepval Memorial,
Somme, France. Pier and Face 10 C 10 D and 11 A. |
BENNETT |
William
Edwin |
Private
G/64162, 4th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment).
Killed in action 31st August 1918. Aged 21. Born Harpur Hill, enlisted
and resident Buxton. Son of Aaron and Ellen Bennett of New Lodge,
Flash, Staffordshire. Formerly 176935, 2nd/5th Battalion, East Surrey
Regiment. Buried in H.A.C. Cemetery, Ecoust-St. Mein, Pas de Calais,
France. Plot I. Row B. Grave 8. |
BIRCHENALL |
Ernest |
[Listed
as BIRCHENHALL on memorial, 1911 census states Birchenall] Private
41477, 1st Battalion, Leicestershire Regiment. Killed in action
22nd March 1918. Aged 19. Born Foxlow, enlisted Buxton. Son of George
Birchenall of Foxlow Cottage, Buxton. In the 1911 census he was
a schoolboy living with his parents George and Emily, aged 12. No
known grave. Commemorated on Arras Memorial, Pas de Calais, France.
Bay 5. |
BLOOD |
Daniel |
Private
31886, 16th Battalion, Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire
Regiment). Died of wounds 28th March 1918. Aged 24. Born Harpur
Hill. Son of Mr and Mrs Thomas Blood of Harpur Hill. He enlisted
in the Sherwood Foresters at Buxton. Prior to enlisting he worked
in the local quarry. He is buried in Namps-Au-Val British Cemetery,
France. Plot I. Row E. Grave 11. |
BLOOD |
Thomas |
Lance
Corporal 27541, 94th Company, Machine Gun Corps (Infantry). Killed
in action 26th July 1916. Born Harpur Hill, enlisted Buxton. In
the 1911 census he was a Stone Quarryman, aged 23, his father Daniel
was a Stone Quarrymen also. Formerly 17/31926, Sherwood Foresters
(Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment). Buried in St. Vaast Post
Military Cemetery, Richebourg-L'Avoue, Pas de Calais, Francis. Plot
III. Row B. Grave 14. |
BRAMWELL |
Richard |
[Listed
as Corporal on memorial] Private 53049, 2nd/5th Battalion, Lincolnshire
Regiment. Killed in action 15th April 1918. Born Burnage, enlisted
Buxton. In the 1911 census he is aged 12, a schoolboy, his father
James and brother James, were both Quarrymen. His mother's name
was Jane. No known grave. Commemorated on Ploegsteert Memorial,
Comines-Warneton, Hainaut, Belgium. Panel 3. |
MELLOR |
James |
Private
241566, 10th Battalion, Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and
Derbyshire Regiment). Died of wounds 26th March 1918. Aged 32. Born
in Harpur Hill in 1886, enlisted Buxton, resident Harpur Hill. Son
of James and Emily Mellor of 25 Harpur Hill. Worked in the local
quarry. in the 1911 census he was a General Labourer, aged 25. Buried
in Boulogne Eastern Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France. Plot VIII.
Row I. Grave 166. |
MYCOCK |
James |
Sapper
81726, 105th Field Company, Royal Engineers. Killed in action 27th
May 1918. Born Lowe, Staffordshire, enlisted Manchester, resident
Buxton. Son of John and Mary Ann Mycock of 2 Haslin Cottages, Harpur
Hill and the husband of Nellie Mycock of 13 Crowestones, Buxton.
No known grave. Commemorated on Arras Memorial, Pas de Calais, France.
Bay 1. |
PEGG |
Francis
George |
[Listed
as Corporal on memorial] Private 12416, 2nd Battalion, Sherwood
Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment). Killed in action
16th September 1916. Born Littleover, enlisted and educated Derby,
resident Buxton. No known grave. Commemorated on Thiepval Memorial,
Somme, France. Pier and Face 10 C 10 D and 11 A. |
RILEY |
Joseph |
Private
71688, 1st Battalion, Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire
Regiment). He died while a prisoner in German hands 13th September
1918. Aged 21. Born Buxton. Enlisted into the Sherwood Foresters
in Buxton. Son of Joseph and Mary Riley, of 5 Temple View, Harpur
Hill. He worked in the local quarry. In the 1911 census he was a
Grocer's Errand Boy, aged 13, and his father was a Lime Burner,
his brother in law, Isaac Thompson, was a Quarryman. Buried in Valenciennes
(St Roch) Communal Cemetery, Nord, France. Plot V. Row G. Grave
11 |
TIDESWELL |
Thomas
Henry |
Private
42979, 1/5th Battalion, Prince of Wales's (North Staffordshire Regiment).
Killed in action 17th April 1918. Aged 18. Born Harpur Hill, enlisted
Bakewell, resident Buxton. Son of William and Margaret Tideswell
of New Colshaw Earl Sterndale. In the 1911 census he was aged 11,
a schoolboy. No known grave, Commemorated on Ploegsteert Memorial,
Comines-Warneton, Hainaut, Belgium. Panel 8. |
WARDLE |
Robert |
Private
G/72305, 7th Battalion (Royal West Surrey Regiment). Killed in
action 23rd September 1918. Born and resident Harper Hill, enlisted
Derby. In the 1901 census he was aged 1, born Derbyshire, son
of William and Hannah Wardle, resident Harper Hill, Hartington
Upper Quarter, Chapel En Le Frith, Derbyshire. In the 1911 census
he was the son of William and Hannah Wardle, a schoolboy, born
Harpur Hill, Derbyshire, aged 9, his father was a Lime Firms Labourer,
his brother James a Quarryman, and his brothers Richard and Samuel
both Lime Firms Labourers; he was resident at 17, Side Road, Harpur
Hill near Buxton, Hartington Upper Quarter, Derbyshire. No known
grave. Commemorated on Vis-En-Artois Memorial, Pas de Calais,
France. Panel 3.
The
Buxton Advertiser states that on Sunday 14th June 1924 at the
Whitsuntide, St James, Harpur Hill, Church Service. A War Memorial
Tablet Flower Stand was dedicated. It had kindly been donated
by Mr Laurence Wardle. So that the family and friends of the dead
could lay flowers and wreaths and the wind would not blow them
away. This was before the main war memorial was built.
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Last updated
7 June, 2019
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