Memorial

Cairn 1914-18 Barmoor Castle

Barmoor

Memorial Name: Cairn 1914-18 Barmoor Castle (B5.01)

NEWMP Ref No.: B5.01

Parish: Barmoor

Original Location:

On side of road near entrance to Barmoor Castle.

Which War:

1914-18

Materials Used:

Stone

Who Commissioned:

General Sitwell

Cost:

£11 1s 7d.

How Money was Raised:

Private subscription

Ownership and Maintenance: The land on which it stands is maintained by its owner, John Reavley of Barmoor Home Farm, Lowick, Berwick-upon-Tweed.

Inscription:

1914 – 1918

Memorial Description:

Memorial of rough square-shaped stones piled into a massive monument, about 8 feet high (2.4m) at its highest point, approximately 8 feet deep and 5 feet wide (2.4m x 1.5m).

The dates “1914-1918” are incised at the front.

Names:

None

Notes:

1. This is the monument proposed by General Sitwell for Lowick. He had, apparently, offered to provide a monument if the villagers at Lowick paid for workers’ cottages to be built.

2.  General Sitwell considered that his monument represented the “rough and ready lot of the soldier”.

3. “The little village of Lowick, near Berwick, is having trouble over the erection of its war memorial. Some months ago a large boulder of whinstone, surrounded by smaller boulders was set up as a memorial chiefly through the initiative of General Sitwell, of Barmoor, who held a command at Sulva (sic) Bay in the Dardanelles. Most of the villagers, however, objected to the pile as unsuitable for a memorial. A public meeting was held, and a fresh committee appointed with the object of erecting a memorial which would be considered more pleasing to the eye. As a result of this General Sitwell, who had subscribed £10 towards the boulder memorial, sent a further cheque of £1 1s 7d, for the cost of the stone and its erection, he now considered the stone his property, and asked to be allowed to withdraw his name as a subscriber. The new Committee retorted by asking him to remove his memorial within six days, and have advertised the fact in the Press that the General’s name has been removed from the list of subscribers. What makes the situation more complicated is that the villagers do not appear to have made up their minds yet what they really want as a war memorial” (Alnwick Gazette)

4. A new entrance to the caravan site has been created in a nearby road, so this memorial will no longer be situated at the main entrance.

External Links:

Historic England Listing

Sources:

Photos: J. Brown; Tony Harding

Alnwick & County Gazette
05/06/1920 contains the above report.

Northern Echo
04/06/1920 reports controversy.

The Journal
13/11/1989 reports the story of this and Lowick memorials.

Morpeth County Library
Frith collection of photographs

Not Forgotten Neil Oliver; Hodder and Stoughton 2005; ISBN 0 340 89872 0 contains a portrait of Lt. Col. Sitwell.

Research Acknowledgements:

Janet Brown;
Berwick upon Tweed Town Council;
Tony Harding;
Dorothy Hall;
Phillip Hanson (Lowick Parish Council)

Research In Progress:

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

If you know more about this memorial, please send the details to NEWMP.

War Memorial Indexes

County Durham Index

Newcastle Index

Northumberland Index

Over The Tees Index

This is a work in progress. Interested in helping, contact 2014@newmp.org.uk 

Exploring the North East’s History
Your Search Is Underway!

Please bear with us while we retrieve the information you're searching for. With access to over 1 million records, your search results will include Memorials and Names of individuals within the Counties, Districts, and Parishes of the North East of England. We've also provided filter options to help you narrow down your search. This may take a few moments, and we appreciate your patience!

NEWMP is a non profit organisation and we rely on donations to help us to keep the site running and updated. If you would like to donate you can do so by clicking here. Your help is greatly appreciated.