Roll of Honour - Derbyshire

Ministry of Defence

Lest We Forget

The Royal British Legion

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.

Picture above taken from ICI Magazine July 1928

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.
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.

Last updated 7 June, 2019

War Memorials Trust