Memorial Details

Cross 1914-18 1939-45 N Ireland St. John's Churchyard

E66.01

ESCOMB

NZ 189301

In St. John the Evangelist Churchyard (Church demolished). South side of Hallimond Road opposite the Vicarage.

a. 1914-18
b. 1939-45
c. N. Ireland

Unveiled 2nd October 1921 by Lord Gainford, dedicated by the Rural Dean.

Cross, small and encircled, on tall pedestal 9 feet high, total height 13 feet. This rests on a base 1 foot high x 3 feet square resting on three steps. The dedication is on the front. The names are in a single column on each of two sides, carried down onto the riser of the top step. The lettering is incised and leaded using sans serif capitals throughout.The whole is surrounded by a low rail.

Granite.

a. In Honour / and / to the Memory of / the men of Escomb / who gave their lives / for their country / in the Great War / 1914 - 1918 /
Their Name Liveth for Evermore
b. 1939-45
c. Northern Ireland

War Memorial Committee

Public subscription.

Allison and Son, Bishop Auckland.

1. Title: Tears at last as all the dead honoured.

“It was the day Bert Bromley had been working towards for three years. As the 63-year-old Military Medal winner stepped forward with his wreath of poppies, he had tears in his eyes. He placed the wreath beneath the cenotaph in the leaf-strewn cemetery at Escomb near Bishop Auckland.
For the first time, 16 of his friends who died in World War II, had been honoured. Bert, of Saxon Green in the village, had set the final seal on three years’ work to recognise the men who fell. Only those who died in the 1914-18 war were remembered on the memorial before he began his task and as the years and decades passed, the omission had niggled Bert. He made it his job to trace the records of the deaths of all those who died.
Their names were etched on during the summer and yesterday, 43 years after the war ended, they were remembered. Bert, who won his medal at the Normandy Landings said “I feel a lot more peaceful now. I have done what was right by my friends.” With his voice breaking with emotion, he said “The greatest thing is that they are there on the stone. The job is done.”

2. In the Great War, out of a population of 700, 88 had joined the forces.

3. Lord Gainford was presented with a copy of Whittier’s Poems as a souvenir of the occasion.

4. £453 had been raised, of which £250 had been spent on gold medals for those who returned. The remainder was used for the memorial, with £50 still needed.

Photos: C. Sanders; Dorothy Hall; Simon Raine; Old postcard: John Grainger

Auckland and County Chronicle 06/10/1921

Darlington and Stockton Times 08/10/1921 reports unveiling.

Northern Echo 14/11/1988 carries story copied above in Note 1.

Source of quotation
“Their name liveth for evermore” Apocrypha, Ecclesiasticus 44

Darlington and Stockton Times (North) 1921 10 08 Sat

C. Sanders; John and Mavis Dixon; Fitzhugh Collection, Middleton in Teesdale

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

 

ESCOMB      St. John’s Churchyard

   In Honour 

   and 

   to the Memory of 

   the men of Escomb 

   who gave their lives 

   for their country 

   in the Great War 

   1914 - 1918 

   ------------------

On pedestal

   Their Name Liveth for Evermore

--------------------------------------   

Right side

   G.B. Bailey

   J.E. Biggs

   G. Dixon

   J.J. Etherington

   R.A. Gibbon

   W. Grievson   

   J.E. Hughes  

   G.W. Hewitt

   I.W. Hewitt

   C. Ingram

   H. James

   J. Nevison

   H.B. Race

   J. Scales

   W. Tague

   ------------------

On pedestal

   E. Blades

   R. Lee

--------------------------------------

Left side                  

   1939-1945 

   T. Balmer 

   V. Dixon 

   J. Morley 

   W. Nevison 

   M. Ross 

   E. Wilson 

   R. Wise 

   R. Asquith 

   K. Bell 

   C. Hammond 

   F. Hutchinson 

   T. Hughes 

   A. Mawson 

   R. Nesbitt 

   M. Shuttleworth 

   ------------------

On pedestal  

   J.E. Walker  

   Northern Ireland       

   W. Robson 1975 

NamesE66.01   

Notes for this Parish

Individual stories for this Parish