Loughborough cemetery Part 1

Memorials to World War Two PoWs

During one of my recent walks around Loughborough, I found myself returning from a very muddy walk around Charnwood Water, via the newer part of the Loughborough cemetery. As has happened on many occasions whilst I’ve been out walking, I’ve accidentally socially-distancly bumped into a wide variety of friends who during this pandemic I wouldn’t otherwise have seen.

And so it was that on this walk through the cemetery a chance meeting with one friend piqued my interest in some specific graves in the newer part of the cemetery, namely the headstones associated with some German men who died around the time of the Second World War. Several of these men were well-known about and new headstones had been placed in their memory, but there were half a dozen headstones relating to German men who had died, if not towards the end of the war in 1945, then a little afterwards, up until May 1947.

As it is not long since we’ve had a major anniversary of the beginning and ending of the First World War, I know a little bit about that conflict and Loughborough’s, and its people’s part in it, but not so for the Second World War. When I was first asked about these graves, I remembered that I’d seen somewhere information about a prisoner of war (PoW) who escaped from Donington Hall: it came back to me that this had been at the museum in Ashby, and on checking I realised that this event was from the First World War, so had nothing to do with Loughborough (apart from the fact that Donington Hall was once home of members of the Hastings family, who were at one time lords of the manor Loughborough), nor with the headstones in question.

I also remembered seeing something at the Shepshed watermill about a bridge being constructed by prisoners of war, but I wasn’t sure if I’d remembered this, or imagined it, nor whether this was WW1 or WW2. Looking back at my photographs of my day out at the watermill revealed that the bridge-building really had taken place, and it was during WW2, so I knew that prisoners of war must have been held nearby, in WW2.

Sure enough, a little research pulled up some very interesting information on PoW camps in the area.

Firstly, a camp a little over the border, in Nottinghamshire …

A site at Sutton Bonington, now home to the agricultural science college of Nottingham University, had been used to imprison PoWs during WW1. But was this also the case in WW2? According to this newspaper article, the Sutton Bonington site was also used as a camp in World War Two, and the article goes on to describe an escape that allegedly took place on the night of 17 September 1941, when a group of 22 prisoners dug an escape tunnel and used it to leave the camp. Most of the escapees were later found fairly close to Sutton Bonington, but a few made it as far as Chesterfield before they were re-captured. However, an article, with no attribution but with a Nottingham University URL, suggested that Sutton Bonington was only used as a PoW camp during WW1, and that the escape was made on 17 September 1917, through a tunnel which had been dug by the prisoners.

My search through contemporary newspaper reports confirmed that this escape actually took place in 1917.

And a camp just down the road towards Leicester, at Quorn …

Quorn Camp, was situated on Wood Lane, in the village of Quorn, and was numbered No.9/183, being a Base Camp, standard type. Many folk will remember the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the US 82nd Airborne Division who arrived in Quorn on February 14th, 1944 and who were based at the Quorn Camp on Wood Lane. This camp later became a PoW camp, which firstly held Italian prisoners, and later German ones, the site being vacated by 1948.

And a camp just down the road in Shepshed …

This was housed in the former Liberal Club on Charnwood Road, which is now a nursing home. At the time of its use to hold PoWs, it was a relatively new building, its foundation stone being laid in 1901 and the building opened in 1902.

Another nearby camp was at Hathern …

Hathern Camp, based off Pear Tree Lane, close to Dishley Cottage was No. 590, and probably a sub-camp of Garendon Camp which was in Loughborough. The Hathern Camp housed Italian PoWs, from about 1942-1948, after which it became the basis of what was known as the Hathern Bungalow Estate, used as housing for families, when housing was in short supply directly after the war. 

Leaving the environs of Loughborough for a moment, and looking further afield, in Stoughton on the outskirts of Leicester, there was a camp at Shady Lane, now known as an arboretum. Interesting memories from children who grew up near the camp have been shared, but there is one story that brings us quickly back from Shady Lane to Loughborough.

On 22 May 1947, the Leicester Evening Mail carried the following report:

“P.o.W. FOUND HANGED IN SPINNEY

A 25-year-old German prisoner of war at the Stoughton camp has been found dead. He was Ernest Hilbert, and he was discovered hanging in the spinney adjoining the camp yesterday.”

I do not know why, but Ernst Hilbert has a memorial in Loughborough cemetery, one of the half a dozen that were brought to my attention on my recent walk.

You are welcome to quote passages from any of my posts, with appropriate credit. The correct citation for this looks as follow:

Dyer, Lynne (2021). Loughborough cemetery part 1. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2021/01/loughborough-cemetery-part-1.html [Accessed 10 January 2021]

Take down policy:

I post no pictures that are not my own, unless I have express permission so to do. All text is my own, and not copied from any other information sources, printed or electronic, unless identified and credited as such. If you find I have posted something in contravention of these statements, or if there are photographs of you which you would prefer not to be here, please contact me at the address listed on the About Me page, and I will remove these.

You can leave comments below, but do check back as my reply will appear here, below your comment.

Thank you for reading this blog. 

Lynne             

Loughborough Agricultural and Horticultural Show

A chance sighting of the name Crimwell Chief has sent me off on a real treasure hunt this week!!

Who would have thought such a name could have resulted in so much time spent on research!

Loughborough Agricultural Association was set up in 1838, and in 1839 its first anniversary show took place on Mr Warner’s land on the London Road – so probably in the grounds of The Elms. There already were other shows happening in places like Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Market Harborough and Waltham-on-the-Wolds, and the hope was that Loughborough’s would equal any similar show in the Midland Counties.

The show did indeed prove to be successful, and ran for nearly 100 years.

The pictures below were taken at the 1948 show:

Vanners at the 1948 Loughborough Show

A bull at the 1948 Loughborough Show

A cow at the 1949 Loughborough Show

Showing in the ring at the 1949 Loughborough Show

Around 1880 the show moved to Mr W.B. Paget’s land, Southfields – today’s Southfields Park – and continued in the same format until 1930, when financial difficulties forced a change of focus. Although many of the shows were held on Southfields Park, there were a number of occasions when the show took place elsewhere. In 1920 the former cricket ground at Allsopps Lane was the venue; in 1929 the show took place on the Corinthians football ground, and the final show of its type, in 1930, took place in the grounds of Burleigh Hall.

Most of the shows were held in mid-September, and most years were on a Wednesday, but the association did play with the date a bit, so there were times when it was held in early August. During the period of the First World War, no show took place.

Following the stretch of financial difficulties, the show was rebadged as an exhibition, and from 1937 it was held in various locations, including at Cedars Farm, Normanton-on-Soar in 1937; in Wymeswold in 1939, and at Ladygate Farm, Diseworth in 1947. There were no shows during the period of the Second World War.

I’m unsure where the 1948 and 1949 shows were held, but it was these shows that popped up when I was researching Crimwell Stuart.

Our area has long been associated with Robert Bakewell, the eighteenth-century agriculturalist who developed an animal breeding programme which improved the quality of sheep (the Leicester Longwools) and cattle (the Longhorns). Bakewell, who lived and farmed at Dishley Grange also improved the process of irrigation. The other improvement that he made was to the heavy horse, which was the forerunner of the Shire horse, a type of draught horse, being tall, strong and hardworking and often used in farm work like ploughing. Shire horses, often known as draught horses, were often used to pull carts, perhaps carrying beer.    

So, like Songster – Loughborough’s war horse - and Sunloch – a Loughborough winner of the Grand National in 1914 – Crimwell Stuart turned out to be a horse! On 31st July 1948, Crimwell Stuart, a bay gelding, took part in the Loughborough Show, where he came first in his class, and was the runner-up of the challenge cup for the best horse in the draught horse section. Crimwell Staurt was owned by Offilers Brewery, of Derby: they also entered another of their horses, Samson, into the show, and it was he who won the challenge cup.

As well as owning Ambrose and Birkwood Surprise, Offilers also owned quite a number of horses whose names began with ‘Crimwell’, including Crimwell Quality; Crimwell Chief, and Crimwell Prince.  Other Crimwell horses included Crimwell Mimic; Crimwell Goldlust, and Crimwell Modern Boy, although I am not sure who owned them.

These horses were all around in the late 1930s-late 1940s, and appear to have been bred by William Brock at his stud farm called Crimwell Pool in Lower Whitley, Cheshire. Legend has it that the farm was actually named after Oliver Cromwell, as it is thought Cromwell watered his horses here in 1645 – which reminds me that Cromwell is reputed to have rested his horses and his men in our parish church during the Civil War, and, of course, it also reminds me of the story of the Bloody Pool in the grounds of Garendon Hall, so named because legend says that during the Civil War, the pool turned red on four consecutive days, which was believed to represent the 4 years of the Civil War.

However, the name of Cromwell Pool, was changed to Crimwell when the farm became registered to breed pedigree Shire horses. In 1841, at 175 acres, the farm was one of the largest farms in Lower Whitley. 143 of those 175 acres were sold to William Brock around 1941, where as well as breeding Shire horses, he also bred British Friesian cattle, and large white, and Saddleback pigs. His Queen Mary line of pigs trace their lineage back to Derby in 1881, and the prefix ‘Crimwell’ was first used for the large white pigs in 1922. Foot and mouth disease in 1967 meant that the farm had to be re-stocked. Descendants of William Brock continue to farm at Crimwell Pool.  

Offilers, of course, was a brewery formed in Derby in 1876. Although taken over by Charrington in 1965, and closed in 1966, there is still evidence of Offilers in Loughborough, in the windows of the Peacock on Factory Street, and in off-licence ghost signs advertising their ‘nut brown ale’, like the one on the corner of William Street and Curzon Street.

As for the Loughborough Agricultural and Horticultural Show, well this was rather like today's Leicestershire County Show, which did for a few years take place on the land next to Dishley Grange, but which now takes place at the showground in Market Harborough, or like the Sutton Bonington Show - some pictures towards the end of this post. Here's hoping these will return next year. 

You are welcome to quote passages from any of my posts, with appropriate credit. The correct citation for this looks as follow:

Dyer, Lynne (2020). Loughborough Agricultural and Horticultural Show. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2020/08/loughborough-agricultural-and.html     [Accessed 16 August 2020]

Take down policy:

I post no pictures that are not my own, unless I have express permission so to do. All text is my own, and not copied from any other information sources, printed or electronic, unless identified and credited as such. If you find I have posted something in contravention of these statements, or if there are photographs of you which you would prefer not to be here, please contact me at the address listed on the About Me page, and I will remove these.

Thank you for reading this blog. 

Lynne   

The cemetery chapels

Last weekend I spent an enjoyable afternoon at the local Sutton Bonington Show. Over the years I've been many times, initially because the Hathern Concert Brass band played a turn there, but I still try and go even though the youngest no longer plays with them.

This year, I'd recently been to the Leics. County Show at Market Harborough, and I couldn't help but compare the two events. These were so similar, that I even chatted to some of the same stallholders at both the events, but I somehow felt that the Sutton Bonington Show, considering its size and location (when compared to the Leicestershire Show Ground, and the Leics. show being a county-wide event) the Sutton Bonington show was equally as good, and in some cases better. Last year at SB we saw the Nottingham Knights perform in the ring: they weren't here this year, but they were at the County Show. There were not quite so many animals on show at SB, and the variety of cows were not quite as diverse, so they concentrated on Dexter cows. What I particularly like about the SB show is the handicraft / horticulture / baking tent, where competition entries are put on display alongside the judges comments: this is what makes SB a local event I suppose, unlike the County Show. See photos of the event at the end of this post.

Anyway, this is not the topic of this week's blogpost!! To the cemetery chapels ...

This weekend and next are the Heritage Open Day events, and I have been lucky enough to make a number of visits, and although there were literally hundreds of places to visit,  for some reason or other, my visits have centred around cemetery chapels! 

Perhaps this is because of our very own cemetery chapels, on Leicester Road, and maybe my visits were sparked by reading about these in "Loughborough in 50 Buildings" or in the recent "Loughborough Echo" piece about the buildings being up for rent again, the lift company having moved out. Here's a bit about our cemetery chapels from "Loughborough in 50 Buildings":

"Loughborough Cemetery was created following the passing of the Burial Acts, the chapel being designed by architects Bellamy and Hardy of Lincoln in the popular Gothic Revival style, and built by John Sudbury of Loughborough.

At a ceremony in July 1856, a procession, including members of the Burial Board, which comprised many well-known local men, including Edward Chatterton Middleton, Edward Warner, Beauvoir Brock, and Henry Toone, walked from the Town Hall to the cemetery, where Edward Middleton laid the foundation stone for the chapels." 

And some photos:

As authoritative sources suggest, our chapels are some of the most splendid in the country. So, on the trail of others with which to compare, I went off and had a look around those in Melbourne, South Derbyshire, Melbourne being one of my favourite places. The chapels are somewhat smaller, of slightly different design, ours were opened in 1856, Melbourne's in 1859, and both are Grade II Listed. They do, however, differ in current usage, the Melbourne one being "in need" and the subject of a joint project between the Parish Council and Melbourne Historical Research Group to re-vitalise the buildings, and Loughborough's renovated and leased to a company (recently Cibes Lifts, but currently vacant). Some photos below of the Melbourne cemetery chapels:
   

The cemetery chapel at Rothley is quite different from the ones at Loughborough and Melbourne, being constructed in 1904, hence why it's of red brick construction. Also, being rather close to Swithland, it has a Swithland slate roof. With Rothley being a somewhat smaller town than either Loughborough or Melbourne, the chapel is correspondingly smaller. It does not appear on the register of Listed Buildings, but is of sufficient importance to be locally listed. On the day I visited, the building was hosting an exhibition about the Barrow upon Soar workhouse, which covered about 30 local parishes. This was an excellent exhibition and, as you know, I'm quite interested in workhouses, so I'll come back to this when I have more time. In the meantime, please enjoy photos from the Rothley cemetery chapels, followed by the Sutton Bonington Show.

The Sutton Bonington Show:

You are welcome to quote passages from any of my posts, with appropriate credit. The correct citation for this looks as follow:

Dyer, Lynne (2018). Leicestershire County Show. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2018/09/the-cemetery-chapels.html [Accessed 9 September 2018]

Take down policy:

I post no pictures that are not my own, unless I have express permission so to do. All text is my own, and not copied from any other information sources, printed or electronic, unless identified and credited as such. If you find I have posted something in contravention of these statements, or if there are photographs of you which you would prefer not to be here, please contact me at the address listed on the About Me page, and I will remove these.

Thank you for reading this blog. 

Lynne