Memorial Details

St. Aidan's CofE School

W111.031

WEST HARTLEPOOL

Loyalty Road, West Hartlepool (formerly called Stockton Road) , not far from the old tram terminus at Foggy Furze.

1914-18

Foundation stones laid 25th March 1925 by Col. Thomlinson; the Mayor of West Hartlepool and Alderman J.W. Wilson.
school opened August 31st, 1924 by Major-General Dudgen, C.B.; dedicated by the Archdeacon of Auckland

School of red brick with white sandstone decoration. The front elevation has a central part and two sides. At the top of the central part is a cross. Below this is a massive arched window above the entrance. At the top of the window is a stone carved in half relief which bears the date 1925. Two pilasters on either side have a stone at the top of each which bear the words Left “Lest / we / forget” and right “Our / glorious / dead”. Below are two foundations stones bearing the details of when they were laid.

The main front entrance opened into a lofty hall, 66 feet x 36 feet (20.11m and 10.97m). Stretching away either side of the hall were to be on the left a girls’ department and on the right, a boys’ department.

Red Grosmont Brick, sandstone, glazed brick.

Top left stone
Lest
we
forget

Top right stone
Our
glorious
dead

Bottom left stone
Ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam.
In memory of the lads who fell,
this stone was laid by
His Worship the Mayor of West Hartlepool,
Councillor. H. Mason, J.P.,
School Manager,
March 23rd 1925.

Bottom right stone:
Ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam.
In memory of the lads who fell,
this stone was laid by
Lt. Col. W. Thomlinson, J.P., D.L.,
School manager for 40 years,
March 23rd 1925.

In school hall
Ad Maiorem Gloriam Dei
In memory of the lads who fell
this stone was laid by
Alderman J.W. Wilson, J.P.
School Manager
March 23rd 1925.

None

£14,899. Final cost £15,000. Ten years on in 1926, there was still £2,760 to find.

Public subscription. Fund raising started in 1916, Peace Thanksgiving Service was held in the Parish Church in July1919. A War Memorial Collection in September raised £115.00. £1000 was donated by Col. Thomlinson and £100 by Mrs Armstrong.

Built by Capt. E.M. Tweedle Mr J. Hamilton Garry.

Local authority

1. The original school at Longhill, which was quite a distance away from St.Aidan’s church, was opened forty years before, according to foundation stones., and was now inadequate. The new school, which catered for 660 pupils, was built as a war memorial to replace the old building. A site was purchased in Stockton Road in a district less than half a mile to the west of a place called Foggy Furze. Loyalty Road, which was laid in 1936 with money from the children from the school, runs in front of the school.

2. The man behind the scheme to build the new school was Canon Knowlden. The Rev. Knowlden instigated a fund to erect a fitting memorial to those who did not return and, as he put it at the time, as a mark of 'gratitude' for those who did. He wrote about it in 1922: "In 1916 we began what I then felt was a ten year task - the building of a new Day School for 350 boys and 350 girls".

He died on the 16th November 1929 and is buried in Stranton Cemetery.

3. July 1922, the Building Committee gave general approval to the design of the Memorial School.

4. Mr. G. Fawcett was the first Headmaster of the Memorial School.

5. From the school, 614 old boys had volunteered for Service, 102 had fallen.

6. Although bearing the date of 23rd March, the three inscribed foundation stones were laid in the pouring rain by local dignitaries on 25th March. Colonel W. Thomlinson, a School Manager and benefactor, and the Mayor Councillor H. Mason, laid a stone each, which are on each side of the main front doors. Alderman J. T. Wilson, a former pupil of Longhill School, laid the third stone at the base of the West gable end of the hall. The latter was laid with the inscription on the interior, unlike the first two.

7. At the time of the laying of the foundation stones, £8,400 had been raised or promised.
In 1926, a leaflet advertising a bazaar reads:
“The cost of our memorial will be £15,000. During the nine years the Memorial Fund has been in existence we have raised £10,000. The balance of £5,000 has now to be secured. The Church Workers of St.Aidan’s are striving to diminish this £5,000 by as large an amount as possible, with the help of all generous folk who, while honouring the brave fallen, seek to benefit the rising generation. To promote the religious education of the young is to serve the highest ends of our well-being.
The sum of £5,000 on top of the amount already raised, is beyond our ability as a Parish, and we venture to appeal to all who can help us.

A gift of £2,000 would pay for the Central Hall, which could be named by the Donor, while gifts of £500 would pay for a Class Room which might bear the name given by the donor.

8. One of the teachers, Mr Theo. Jones, was the first man to be killed on British soil in the Great War.
Notes from the School Log Books are as follows:
1st April 1905: 'Mr Theo. Jones joins School Staff
May 1912 'Theo Jones failed to return to School after the Whitsuntide break, after he had been to Paris with a large group of male friends, who together made up the 'Excelsior Male Voice Choir'. They were on a singing trip over the vacation but were held up on their return journey'.
30th September 1913: ' Mr. T. Jones left to-day. Mr Jones has been appointed Head Teacher of the C. of E. Thringstone, Leicestershire'.
Theo Jones is buried in Stranton Cemetery.
A photo of a football team, shown here, shows Mr. Jones standing on the left in the back row. In the middle is the Rev Knowlden.

9. The school, when it opened, was called St.Aidan’s C of E School, Longhill. It is now called St.Aidan’s CE Memorial Primary School.

10. When visiting the school in 2014, one of the stones was unable to be found.

Photos: C. Sanders; Simon Raine; James Pasby

Seaham Weekly News 27/03/1925 reports laying of foundation stones

Northern Daily Mail 18/12/1919 reports proposed opening at unveiling of plaque W111.10

Hartlepool Mail 23/03/1925

The Origins of St. Aidan’s Memorial School. A. Bell, 2005. This is a privately published booklet which he dedicates to the 247 people who gave their lives for their country. Much of the information above is taken from this book.

C. Sanders; Dorothy Hall; Fitzhugh Collection,Middleton in Teesdale; Alan Bell; James Pasby

If you are researching this memorial please contact 2014@newmp.org.uk

 

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