Memorial Details
Image Required
Memorial
Roll of Honour and Hall 1914-18 Village
Reference
L28.01
Place
LONGHORSLEY
Map ref
NZ 155943
Original Location
Village
Present Location
Hut was eventually sold in a poor state for £5 in 1938.
Which war
1914-18
Memorial Description
Roll of Honour and Ex-Serviceman’s Institute Hall behind former blacksmith’s shop.
Materials used
Wooden hut.
Names
TRANSCRIPT NEEDED
Present condition
Roll of honour destroyed when church closed.
Notes
1. Ex-soldiers were presented with a leather wallet, with their initials in gold, containing a 10/- note.
2. Morpeth Herald 11/11/1949, reporting the Remembrance Day Services held that year, reports that the after the Service in Longhorsley "the Parade returned to the Village Memorial." This may well be error, since there has been no mention of a memorial in the village apart from the Roll of Honour.
3. "The Comrades Club had been erected by the United Services Institute as a memorial to those who fell during the Great War of 1914-1918. For a good few years it had been the focus of much of the village social activity. It had been used for dances and fund-raising activities and such like. However, because of abuse and neglect over the years, it had seen by that time, in 1938, the best of its use. My grandfather was the secretary and told me that in later years, he was the only one left to take care of things. The owner of the land on which the wooden hut had been erected insisted that it be removed. I gather attempts had been made to find another suitable site for it without success. From documents I still have relating to it, it would appear my grandfather was under pressure from the United Services to move or dispose of it with some haste. The receipt shows that Mr. J.C. Clark of Whemley Burn farm bought it, for the knock down price of nine pounds. The floor was used to replace the existing granary floor of that time. I think the floor is, or at least was, just a few years ago, still serving a useful purpose in the old granary building. The rest of the wooden building was erected as a garage for Mr. Clark's car and was still in use for that purpose when I had occasion to visit the farm to repair machinery in the late fifties.The receipt for the building shows that it was sold in 1939, when I was not then five years old. Yet I clearly remember standing above the ground supported in brick pillars. However, whilst the receipt was dated 1939, it is possible that it was not removed from the site for quite some time afterwards.I have heard a number of stories over the years that recalled the abuse of the building. There were tales of young adults dancing on the billiard table; of deliberately pouring oil from the lamps above the table onto the green baize; of throwing billiard balls with such force that it damaged the walls. It would appear that vandalism has always been with us.
4. Mr. Ricalton recalls no Roll of Honour, and having made local enquiries, can find nobody who remembers one at all. He states that on Remembrance Day people paraded to a flagpole which had regimental badges, and also to war graves in St. Helen's Churchyard.
5. Hearsay states that there is no memorial because nobody was killed in either war from Longhorsley. A man from the Merchant Navy was killed “but he didn’t qualify to be included in any memorial in Longhorsley because the MN are commemorated elsewhere”. This is, of course, a spurious reason because villagers were left to name those they wished to name on their memorial. (Anonymous telephone caller). Rolls of Honour also commemorated those who served.
2. Morpeth Herald 11/11/1949, reporting the Remembrance Day Services held that year, reports that the after the Service in Longhorsley "the Parade returned to the Village Memorial." This may well be error, since there has been no mention of a memorial in the village apart from the Roll of Honour.
3. "The Comrades Club had been erected by the United Services Institute as a memorial to those who fell during the Great War of 1914-1918. For a good few years it had been the focus of much of the village social activity. It had been used for dances and fund-raising activities and such like. However, because of abuse and neglect over the years, it had seen by that time, in 1938, the best of its use. My grandfather was the secretary and told me that in later years, he was the only one left to take care of things. The owner of the land on which the wooden hut had been erected insisted that it be removed. I gather attempts had been made to find another suitable site for it without success. From documents I still have relating to it, it would appear my grandfather was under pressure from the United Services to move or dispose of it with some haste. The receipt shows that Mr. J.C. Clark of Whemley Burn farm bought it, for the knock down price of nine pounds. The floor was used to replace the existing granary floor of that time. I think the floor is, or at least was, just a few years ago, still serving a useful purpose in the old granary building. The rest of the wooden building was erected as a garage for Mr. Clark's car and was still in use for that purpose when I had occasion to visit the farm to repair machinery in the late fifties.The receipt for the building shows that it was sold in 1939, when I was not then five years old. Yet I clearly remember standing above the ground supported in brick pillars. However, whilst the receipt was dated 1939, it is possible that it was not removed from the site for quite some time afterwards.I have heard a number of stories over the years that recalled the abuse of the building. There were tales of young adults dancing on the billiard table; of deliberately pouring oil from the lamps above the table onto the green baize; of throwing billiard balls with such force that it damaged the walls. It would appear that vandalism has always been with us.
4. Mr. Ricalton recalls no Roll of Honour, and having made local enquiries, can find nobody who remembers one at all. He states that on Remembrance Day people paraded to a flagpole which had regimental badges, and also to war graves in St. Helen's Churchyard.
5. Hearsay states that there is no memorial because nobody was killed in either war from Longhorsley. A man from the Merchant Navy was killed “but he didn’t qualify to be included in any memorial in Longhorsley because the MN are commemorated elsewhere”. This is, of course, a spurious reason because villagers were left to name those they wished to name on their memorial. (Anonymous telephone caller). Rolls of Honour also commemorated those who served.
Newspaper cuttings, photos or archival material
Morpeth Herald 12/03/1920 tells of the presentation of the wallets.
Longhorsley (At War and Peace) A Few Tales From The Past (W.A. Ricalton, published by the Author, 1995) Note 3 above is quoted from this book.
Longhorsley (At War and Peace) A Few Tales From The Past (W.A. Ricalton, published by the Author, 1995) Note 3 above is quoted from this book.
External web link
Research acknowledgements
J. Brown; W.A. Ricalton, Longhorsley
Research In Progress
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Roll of Honour and Hall 1914-18 Village (L28.01)
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