Cross 1914-18 1939-45 Northern Ireland St. John’s Churchyard

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.

Granite.

War Memorial Committee

Public subscription.

Allison and Son, Bishop Auckland.

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

Cross, small and encircled, on tall pedestal 9 feet high (2.7m), total height 13 feet (4m).

This rests on a base 12 inches high x 36 inches square ( 30cms x 91cms) 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.

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

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

3. £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.

4.  The Northern Echo 14/11/1988
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.

Historic England Listing

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

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

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