Lynne About Loughborough

Thursday, 29 October 2026

31 Days of Graves Day 29 Grand

Of course, it depends on your definition of ‘grand’ but I think there are several memorials worthy of being named as such, both in the churchyard of All Saints with Holy Trinity and in the old cemetery on Leicester Road. I think there may be others in different parts of the Leicester Road cemetery, but I’ve yet to re-visit that one.

So, in the parish church is a rather grand tomb made from brick, and adorned with slate headstones. There were headstones on the top of the too, but I couldn’t photograph those as I didn’t have a stepladder with me.

These memorials are to members of the Hunt family, of which John Hunt was a surgeon in Loughborough.

Over in the Leicester Road cemetery are a couple more I’d like to share with you. Firstly, the beautiful structure dedicated to Richard Warner Hole, about whom I have written a little before, in connection with Shelthorpe House. This memorial is sited next to the one dedicated to Catharine Anne Brown, which was probably intentional as her daughter was Amelia, who was the widow of Richard Warner Hole, and who we met on Day 1 of this challenge.

Finally, the one memorial that cannot fail to be missed, in the old part of the Leicester Road cemetery – the green person standing atop a grey marble plinth! William Henry Paltridge, a Doctor of Music, and owner of a music shop on Church Gate.[1] Also in memory of his wife, Emma. I took the photographs from what seemed to be the best vantage points, so not many close ups, so not all the inscription is visible here, and I haven’t done much research into the family. Hopefully, the photos will suffice.

Thank you for following me on this blog challenge!

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Notes

[1] I now think that the shop was further down Church Gate than I suggested in my earlier post about Paltridge's, so maybe where AA Stationers is now, but in a building that pre-dates that particular one, though, of course, I can never be sure.

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Posted by lynneaboutloughborough

With apologies for typos which are all mine!

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Thank you for reading this blog.

Copyright:

Dyer, Lynne (2026). 31 Days of Graves Day 29 Grand. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2026/10/31-days-of-graves-day-29-grand.html [Accessed 29 October 2026]

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Lynne

Wednesday, 28 October 2026

31 Days of Graves Day 28 1900-1999

Whilst there are a number of memorials in the old cemetery on Leicester Road that date from during the twentieth century, the majority can be found in the new cemetery on Leicester Road. Looking at some of these now, it’s interesting to note how they differ from earlier memorial stones.

By the time the new part of the cemetery was opened in 1947, the use of Swithland slate for headstones had long since finished. The heyday was probably around the mid-1850s, but there followed a rapid decline in usage, and the last quarry closed in 1887. So, rather than a profusion of Swithland slate, the new part of the cemetery is more likely to include headstones of granite, and limestone (Portland stone and York stone). Further into the latter part of the twentieth century and into the twenty-first, black marble seems to dominate.

Other differences seem to be that the length of the grave is often covered in green stone. Headstones from the 1930s-1960s are often rectangular, rather than church window shaped which was popular in earlier times. Some areas of the newer cemetery were still laid out in regimented rows, too.

It proved difficult to track down twentieth-century headstones, as in comparison to some of the twenty-first century ones, they looked rather small, although were mostly the same dimensions as the ones in the older part of the cemetery. I did, however, photograph one that couldn’t have been much more than 2 foot high (where was my tape measure when I needed it?!).

Whilst in the old part of the cemetery, one side was reserved for Anglicans, the other for non-conformists, I'm not sure if this is the case in the newer part of the cemetery. There are, however, areas that seem to be distinctly reserved for Italian people, Polish people, Muslims, and Jews - at least, these were the ones I spotted, but I have no doubt there are many more special areas.

I have not researched any of the people who are memorialised on the headstones I photographed, so here are the pictures

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Posted by lynneaboutloughborough

With apologies for typos which are all mine!

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Thank you for reading this blog.

Copyright:

Dyer, Lynne (2026). 31 Days of Graves Day 28 1900-1999. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2026/10/31-days-of-graves-day-28-1900-1999.html [Accessed 28 October 2026]

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Thank you for reading this blog.

Lynne

Tuesday, 27 October 2026

31 Days of Graves Day 27 Military

The sword on this memorial stone is a cavalry sabre, and is accompanied by a rifle, and a pistol. The headstone, which is in the churchyard of All Saints with Holy Trinity, remembers Robert Hayes, son of Daniel Hayes and Mary (née Cumberland) of Loughborough Parks, who was born in 1788, and died in 1807. In the early 19th century, imagery on memorial stones became rather more directly related to the earthly life of the person, rather than the use of generic images. These particular images suggest that Robert was an officer, or a high-ranking military member, and the year of his death might suggest he was taking part in the Napoleonic Wars, perhaps the Copenhagen Expedition. There is more information about this conflict on the National Army Museum webpages. However, I am not a military historian, so please don't take my word for it.

The following memorials in the old cemetery on Leicester Road, we will remember them, not in words but in silence and photographs. There is more information available, and this is accessed via the person's name.

166514, Driver, John William Smith, Royal Field Artillery, 21st September 1919, age 40.

45190 Serjeant Percy Onions, Machine Gun Corps. (Inf) 15th November 1918 age 26

74166 Private James Pearson Royal Defence Corps and Cheshire Regiment 10th November 1918 age 28

241289 Sergeant Thomas Marston Military Medal and Two Bars The Leicestershire Regiment 10 June 1922

There is more information about Thomas Marston on the Carillon website; on the BBC news pages, and on the Royal Leicester Regiment webpages.

The memorial to POW Leonhard Rademacher can be found amongst other POWs in the new part of the Leicester Road cemetery which was opened in 1947.

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Posted by lynneaboutloughborough

With apologies for typos which are all mine!

_______________________________________________

Thank you for reading this blog.

Copyright:

Dyer, Lynne (2026). 31 Days of Graves Day 27 Military. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2026/10/31-days-of-graves-day-27-military.html [Accessed 27 October 2026]

Take down policy:

External Links:

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site: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/ “Radmoor House”

NOTE – the words you’re actually looking for must be in “” and the first of these must be preceded by a space

Thank you for reading this blog.

Lynne

Monday, 26 October 2026

31 Days of Graves Day 26 Unusual Shape

Looking around the cemeteries in Loughborough, there are a huge number of interestingly shaped memorial stones. Today I am sharing here some of the ones I’ve found – no words, just photographs!! These can all be found in the old cemetery on Leicester Road. Some probably aren't all that unusual, but these are the ones that appealed to me.