Memorial Title

Middleton

Summary

Derbyshire War Memorials: a description of a WW1 and WW2 war memorial tablet at Middleton, Wirksworth, Derbyshire.

Images

		Click on a thumbnail to see a larger image. Further images may be available on request.

Locations

Last known location:
The Green
Main St (B5023)
Middleton
Wirksworth
Derbyshire

Nearest postcode:
DE4 4LU

NGR:
SK 27585 56110 ±5m
(Map opens in new window.)

Location details:
The memorial is towards the northern end of The Green. Middleton is sometimes known as Middleton by Wirksworth to distinguish it from other locations.

Type

Overall type: Tablet

Overall condition: Pristine. The inscription is legible and the memorial is cared for.

Description:

A freestanding tablet comprising three panels on a base and with a coping at the head, all made from local limestone. The central panel is in the style of a CWGC headstone to reflect the local production of these after WW1. It has a poppy in relief in a roundel at the head and an inscription on both the face and the reverse. The left panel bears the names of the fallen of the two world wars, and the right panel carries the names of those who served in WW1 and returned home. All inscriptions are incised in upright capital roman lettering. The muntins are chamfered on the inner edges, the coping has a bevelled top and the base has a chamfered top. The whole is founded on concrete.

Glossary

Components:

Component	Material	Height	Width	Depth	Condition
Tablet	Limestone	840	1550	100	Pristine
Coping	Limestone	50	1600	130	Pristine
Base	Limestone	75	1700	300	Pristine
Dimensions in millimetres ±5mm unless stated otherwise.

Inscription

Face of middle panel:

Reverse of middle panel:

ERECTED BY THE
MIDDLETON COMMUNITY
ON 11TH NOVEMBER 2018
TO COMMEMORATE
THE CENTENARY
OF THE ENDING OF
THE FIRST WORLD WAR
IN MEMORY OF
THOSE WHO DIED
AND IN THE HOPE OF
FUTURE PEACE

DEDICATED TO
ALL THOSE CONNECTED WITH
MIDDLETON
WHO SERVED THEIR COUNTRY
IN WAR

WITH THANKS TO ALL WHO
HAVE SUPPORTED THIS
PROJECT PARTICULARLY
THE NATIONAL HERITAGE
LOTTERY FUND
TARMAC LANDFILL
COMMUNITIES FUND

Face of left panel:

Face of right panel:

THOSE CONNECTED WITH MIDDLETON
WHO DIED
1914 - 1918

THOSE THOSE WHO SERVED
1914 - 1918

LEONARD ADAMS

JOSEPH LAMB

ROBERT ADAMS

ARTHUR HARRISON

WILLIAM B BIRLEY

WALTER MARPLES

THOMAS BATTERLEY

GEORGE HOLMES

JOHN Y BROOKS

JOHN W MELBOURNE

THOMAS BEESTON

SAMUEL JEPSON

THOMAS BROOKS

JOHN F H PEARSON

FRANK BODEN

GEORGE MATHER

JOSHUA BUCKLEY

GEORGE L PETTS

LAURENCE BRACE

ARTHUR MILNER

JOHN F DOXEY

DANIEL SHELDON

WILLIAM BRACE

BERTRAM W PETTS

PERCY F DOXEY

JOHN W SHELDON

JOHN BRAILSFORD

WILLIAM SLACK

FREDERICK FEARN

HARRY L SLACK

EDWARD BROOKS

EDWARD A SPENCER

ARTHUR GOODALL

CHARLES SPENCER

ERNEST BUNTING

ERNEST SPENCER

SAM H GOODALL

FRANCIS E SPENCER

GEORGE H DOXEY

JOHN W SPENCER

FRANCIS GRATTON

JOHN SPENCER

SAMUEL DOXEY

JOSEPH W SPENCER

WILLIAM GRATTON

JOSEPH SPENCER

WALTER ELSE

LESLIE SPENCER

JOHN A HALL

LAWRENCE SPENCER

WILLIAM S B ELSE

WILLIAM SPENCER

SAMUEL J HALLOWS

LOUIS W SPENCER

GEORGE H GOODALL

BENJAMIN STATEN

WILLIAM K HALLOWS

THOMAS SPENCER

JOSEPH R GOODALL

FRANK E WALKER

GEORGE H HODGKINSON

THOMAS S SPENCER

FRANCIS W GRATTON

JOHN WALKER

NORMAN HOWARD

FRED TAYLOR/ROBINSON

SAMUEL R HALL

WILLIAM WALKER

GEORGE KENWORTHY

ALEC WALKER

ALFRED HARRISON

WALTER WRIGHT

GEORGE KILLER

ALBERT WHEELDON

LEONARD KILLER

LEONARD WILBRAHAM

1939 - 1945

LESLIE HARRISON

JOHN OLDFIELD

HARRY KNEEBONE

WILLIAM SPENCER

Conflicts and people named:
Conflict	First World War (1914-1919)	Second World War (1939-1945)	Totals
Action or event	Not stated	Not stated
Number died	40	4	44
Number served and returned	36	0	36
Total names	76	4	80

Administration

Custodian: Middleton Parish Council.

Local authorities:
From 1974: Middleton Parish Council; Derbyshire Dales District Council; Derbyshire County Council.

History and Conservation

August, 1980: The memorial lies within the Middleton Conservation Area which was first designated on that date.

25thJuly, 2018: An open meeting was held in the village hall to discuss the design, siting and wording of the proposed memorial.

13th August, 2018: Middleton Parish Council resolved to investigate locating the memorial in the Millenium Garden.

24th September, 2018: At the Parish Council meeting it was agreed to undertake a further consultation on the siting of the memorial.

30th October, 2018: The design of the memorial was approved at an Extraordinary Meeting of the Parish Council. The preferences to the second public consultation were reported to be 60 in favour of the Millennium Garden and 126 in favour of the Village Green.

A tablet in the style of a CWGC headstone was designed with the intention that it would eventually form the central section of the new memorial.

11th November, 2018: The "headstone" tablet, with two others, was loaded onto a train at the Middleton terminus of the Steeple Grange Light Railway and transported down the line to Steeplehouse. Later in the day it was carried by train back up the line to Middleton, where it was transferred to a gun carriage and taken to Holy Trinity Church for a Remembrance service. From there it was taken up the hill to The Green, where it was dedicated. It symbolised the 120 000 CWGC headstones produced locally after WW1 and coincided with the Centenary of the Armistice. It was not, however, put in its permanent position but was taken into storage and subsequently incorporated into the new memorial.

12th November, 2018: The Parish Council resolved to locate the memorial on The Green.

2019: The permanent memorial was made from local limestone donated by Longcliffe Quarries Ltd, cut by Lowe's Marble and Granite of New Rd Middleton and created by Colin Julian of L Petts Stonemasons of Chapel Lane Middleton. Details were researched by members of Middleton Remembers Research Group and the project was coordinated by Middleton Parish Council. It was supported by The National Heritage Lottery Fund; Tarmac Landfill Communities Fund; County Councillors' Local Community Fund; Better Derbyshire Dales Fund; Wirksworth WW1 Group; Steeple Grange Light Railway; Middleton Parish Council; Charity Plant Sales and Middleton Village Green Committee.

30th June, 2019: The memorial was unveiled by Mr Robert Shields, Chairman of Longcliffe Quarries Ltd and dedicated by Rev Canon David Truby. During the Ceremony music was provided by the BM&W Brass Band led by Sarah Fellows and the Raise Your Voices Choir led by Lester Simpson. During the service poems, written on the theme of war by children of Middleton Community Primary School were read by four of the children.

30th June, 2019: The memorial was recorded by Roy Branson. It was in pristine condition and cared for.

References

Derby Telegraph; 19th June, 2019; p17 col1: a report on the forthcoming ceremony.

Middleton Parish Council Minutes: 13th August, 2018; 30th October, 2018; 12th November, 2018.

Middleton Remembers; August 1918: The council's analysis of the public consultation on memorial preferences.

Middleton Remembers; June 2019; Anon: Order of Service for the dedication ceremony.

Middleton Research Group; June 2019: Flyer regarding forthcoming ceremony and containing background information.

Village Pump, Middleton Village Newsletter; No 441; July 2017: a report on the Village Green Committee's proposal to erect a new war memorial in the village.

Ibid; No 444; November 2017; pp1 and 3: reports of progress for commemorating the end of WW1 by highlighting the work of the local stone industry.

Ibid; No 451; June 1918: a report on the acquisition of funding and a preliminary design for the new memorial, with a temporary panel being produced by November.

Ibid; No 452; July 1918: a report on the expanding commemoration project which, in addition to the memorial, will include historical research projects.

Ibid; No 455; November 1918: a report on the commomoration of the centenary of the armistice, including the dedication of the temporary panel destined to form part of the permanent memorial..

Ibid; No 458; March 1919: a report on the appointment of L Petts as contractor, following the receipt of quotations, and a description of the final design.

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