St Michael's Church - Much Hoole

I visited this church on my way to Southport, Almost got inside. Another of those churches that has great antiquity and will be extremely interesting. I have exterior photos but the first ones will be the memorial. The Ref number on the UK National Archive is 54968.

The memorial is to the left of the panorama

The memorial is shown in the panorama above. These are the pictures of the memorial and the transcription.

The memorial to the south of the church

The right-hand panel

The centre panel

The left hand panel

View from the memorial back to the church

 ERECTED

 IN

 THANKSGIVING

 TO

 GOD

 FOR THE NOBLE

 SACRIFICE OF THE 

MEN OF HOOLE

 AND DISTRICT

 WHO FELL IN THE GREAT WAR

 OF

 1914-1919

1939 - 1945

1914- 1919

RICHARD HUNT

WILLIAM H. JACKSON

THOMAS MAWDSLEY

WILLIAM RILEY

JOHN SUTTON

JAMES WEBSTER

THOMAS WEBSTER

RICHARD WEBSTER

HARRY H. WEBSTER

THOMAS WIGNALL

JOHN E. BARNISH

JAMES BARKER

WILLIAM BIRD

NICHOLAS TOPPING

JOHN W. WOOD

ERNEST A. BARKER

WILLIAM BARKER

JOB BENTHAM

RICHARD BRIGGS

JAMES COULTON

JOHN FIDDLER

THOMAS FORSHAW

ALFRED GIDLOW

JOHN HARRISON

THOMAS HARRISON

FREDERICK HODSON

1939 - 1945

JACK JONES

EDMUND WIGNALL

ALBERT WORTHINGTON

Below are pictures of the church:

From the right of the memorial

Almost directly from the memorial

Close-up of the door stonework

The door into the church
The date over the door says 1628

From the rear of the church

From the church door towards the memorial facing south.

The door in the church tower

The sundial on the face of the tower. Obviously facing south!

From the southwest corner. Yes the tower does lean down!
The glass in the windows, although leaded is clear.

Erected in 1977
by
the Bracewell Family
in memory of
their loved ones
"God be with you till we meet again"

The actual construction seems to be quite ancient!
I presume there may have been a lych gate here.
It would seem odd that a church of this antiquity would not have one.
The purpose of a lych gate has now gone into misuse.

Calverley -Victoria Park Memorial

I visited Calverley almost by accident on the way back from Shipley. The memorial is situated in Victoria Park, a fine stretch of open park land. A great place. I can only belive that the name plates are new. There is very little staining coming from them. I actually quite like the green staining from the bronze. I can see why many would not.
These are the pictures. The memorial is No 21869 at the National Archive of War Memorials. 

View from the park gates

IN MEMORY OF
THE
CALVERLEY MEN
WHO FELL IN
THE GREAT WAR
1914 -1918
---
THEIR NAME LIVETH FOR EVERMORE

AND IN THE WAR
1939 -1945

Well maintained and set on its own plinth

From the rear facing the main road

1939 -1945
ACKROYD, J.B.
ALLANSON, S.V.
DOCKRAY, A.
FIRTH, W.
FRYER, H.
GARDINER, J.T.
GILL, R.L.
GOODBURN, J.
GOUGH, S.
HALLIDAY, R.
HEYWORTH, J.
HORSEMAN, H.
HUSTLER, J.S.
JOY, W.D.
LASCELLES, R.E.
PASHLEY, H.
RAY, W.
ROBERTS, E.S.
ROBERTS, G.P.
SCRIMSHAW, F.
TAYLOR, G.
THOMPSON, D.W.
WOODCOCK, J.R.

"God proved them and found them worthy for himself"

From the lower end of the park - to the left of the gates as you enter.

1914-1918
ALLOTT, R.
ATKINS, A.
BENNETT, A.C.
BEACH, A.
BINNS, C.W.
BINNS, T.E.
BINNS, M.
BLACKBURN, G.
BROWN, P.E.
CALVERLEY, F.
CHARGE, J.W.
CHIPPENDALE, S.
COATES, A.
CROSSLAND, E.
DAVISON, J.P.
DAVISON, S.
DOBSON, R.
FAICHNEY, H.W.
FARRER, W.
FISHER, F.
GRAY, A.
HIGHAM, G.
HINCHCLIFFE, E.
HINCHCLIFFE, N.
HINCHCLIFFE, P.

Managed to behead Victory!
The list below:
1914-1918
HORSEMAN, F.
HUTCHINSON, R.
JAGGER, J.
KITSON, H.
KIPLING, H.
LONG, A.H.
LORD, A.C.
MANN, J.N.
NELSON, E.
PILLEY, G.R.
POWELL, A.
RAWSON, J.W.
RUSHTON, T.H.
SCOTT, F.
STANHOPE, A.
STANHOPE, C.
THACKRAY, C.
WALLER, J.
WALMSLEY, J.W.
WALMSLEY, H.G.D.
WHEATLEY, H.
WIGGLESWORTH, C.
WESTERMAN, T.W.
WRIGHT, J.
YEWDALL, M.

From the rear of the memorial

The present and the past - this is what sacrifice is all about
You don't meet many triplet buggies on your travels!

Sorry got a bit artistic here!

The exit from the memorial,
fine old millstone grit houses.

The park from quite close to the entrance.
This is a fine expanse of parkland.
May it stay that way!

St Cuthbert's servicemen and memorials

In the churchyard at St Cuthbert's in Lytham there are both memorials and also gravestones. The photos are below. Somewhat disappointing that the graves have the little Remembrance Day crosses and the memorials do not. Perhaps the memorials are not so obvious. But its nice that people remember anyway. Hopefully I can derive links from some of them. Some will cross reference onto the main memorial in Lytham at Hastings Place and at St Cuthbert's.

ALSO WALTER ECCLES, SEC LIEUT
L.N. LANCS REGT, THEIR GRANDSON
BORN JULY 20TH 1888
KILLED IN ACTION, FRANCE, MAY 30TH 1916

CLOSE UP OF THE BOTTOM OF THIS MEMORIAL,
REGRETTABLY THE INSCRIPTION IS NOT VISIBLE

IN
EVER LOVING MEMORY
OF
JOYCE
DEARLY BELOVED WIFE OF
ALAN EGERTON FERGUSON
DEC 8TH 1939 IN HER 26TH YEAR
"THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD"
ALSO HER HUSBAND ALAN EGERTON F/LT R.A.F. V.R.
MISSING PRESUMED KILLED MANNHEIM
SEP 6th 1943 AGED 32 YEARS
AND WAS INTERRED IN RHEINBERG CEMETERY

IN LOVING MEMORY OF
ESTHER
THE BELOVED WIFE OF
HENRY SNALAM
WHO DIED FEB 11TH 1832
AGED 62 YEARS
ALSO FRED THEIR SON
KILLED IN ACTION IN FRANCE
JUNE 16TH 1917 AGED 19 YEARS
"AT REST"
ALSO MARY SNALAM
DIED JAN 13TH 1937 AGED 24 YEARS
ALSO THE ABOVE HENRY SNALAM
WHO DIED NOV 7TH 1947 AGED 81 YEARS
(More details are available at the link above)

IN LOVING MEMORY OF~
WILLIAM BROWN ROWSON
WHO DIED JAN 1ST 1936
IN HIS 81ST YEAR
MARY KEZIA ROWSON
WHO DIED MAY 29TH 1922
IN HER 67TH YEAR
ALSO
2ND LIEUT STANLEY ROWSON
11TH LANCASHIRE FUSILIERS
ONLY SON OF THE ABOVE
KILLED IN THE GREAT WAR IN FRANCE
SEPT. 30TH 1916 (the date at the CWC is the 29th of Sept)
ALSO EMMA DAUGHTER OF
WILLIAM BROWN ROWSON
WIFE OF THE LATE HARRY JACKSON
WHO DIED FEB 3RD 1961
IN HER 79TH YEAR

IN LOVING MEMORY OF
WILLIAM MILLIGAN M.D.
DIED MARCH 27TH 1923
AGED 64 YEARS
ALSO DONALD S.E. MILLIGAN
11 R.C. C.S., L.R.C.P., LIEUT R.A.M.C.
SON OF THE ABOVE AND LAID TO REST IN YPRES
OCT 12TH 1917
"AS A WELL SPENT DAY BRINGS A HAPPY SLEEP
SO LIFE WELL USED BRINGS HAPPY DEATH"
(more info at the link)

SEE BELOW

SUB LIEUT.
DONALD MORRIS MULLER
R.N.V.R.
THE DEVOTED SON OF
PAUL AND ANN MULLER
MISSING PRESUMED KILLED
OCTOBER 18TH 1941
AGED 23 YEARS
"HE GAVE HIS LIFE FOR THOSE HE LOVED
AND THOSE HE LOVED REMEMBERED"
(more info at the link)

ALSO OF
JOHN EDWARD (Clark)
ONLY SON OF
JOHN SARGENT AND ADA MARY CLARK
KILLED IN ACTION IN FRANCE
SEPT 11 1918 AGED 19 YEARS

Below are the familiar white gravestones:

SECOND LIEUTENANT
J.C.MEYRICK
LOYAL NORTH LANCS REGIMENT
26TH JUNE 1917 AGED 19

FLYING OFFICER
F. BARLOW
ROYAL AIR FORCE
5TH OF APRIL 1944

JUNIOR COMMANDER
H. LEIGH (Eleanor)
AUX. TERRITORIAL SERVICE
1ST OF JUNE 1943 AGE 31

"TO LIVE IN HEARTS
WE LEAVE BEHIND
 IS NOT TO DIE"

213437 GUNNER
J. MYERS
ROYAL FIELD ARTILLERY
25TH OF FEBRUARY 1917 AGE 36

P/7919 LANCE CPL
J. ANDERSON
MILITARY POLICE CORPS
4TH DECEMBER 1917 AGE 56

47337 PRIVATE
H.J. LAMB
K.O. SCOTTISH BORDERERS
30 APRIL 1920

13364 PRIVATE
E.MEDCALF
ROYAL LANCASHIRE REGIMENT
17TH OCTOBER 1920 AGE 21

As before I appear to have missed several servicemen's graves. Any of the links will take you back to St Cuthbert's graveyard. There you will find the missing graves. There is more information on many of the CWGC website. The memorials will also take you back to the CWGC website too. I have not done any searching anywhere else.

St Cuthberts Church -link to the Birley memorial in Kirkham

If you visited before I have decided to put the servicemen's graves at St Cuthbert's separately. However this set of pictures are related to Kirkham and Wrea Green - the Birley family. This link goes back to the Birley memorial in the Kirkham Parish church graveyard. It considerably helped in "decoding" the information on the Birley memorial. Hopefully it helps in nailing some of the links that Birley researchers needed to establish.

THOMAS AUBRY SHEPHERD, MAJOR, DUKE OF L.O.Y.
ELDEST SON OF HERBERT SHEPHERD CROSS
BURIED AT BRAUCHING, OCT 3 1931

IN LOVING MEMORY OF
ANNE THE WIFE OF THE REVEREND
JOHN SHEPHERD BIRLEY M.A.
DIED 12TH MAY 1872 AGED 67 YEARS

THE REVEREND JOHN SHEPHERD BIRLEY M.A. OXON
OF MOSS LEE, BOLTON-LE-MOORS
AND KIRKHAM, LANCASHIRE
BORN OCT 11 1808, DIED JULY 1 1883

LUCY MARY SHEPHERD
WIFE OF HERBERT SHEPHERD-CROSS
BORN MAR 11 1846 DIED MAY 26 1891

(close up of the above )
HERBERT SHEPHERD-CROSS OF HAMELS PARK HERTS.
BORN JAN 1 1847 DIED JAN 9 1916.
AND LAID TO REST AT BRAUCHING

(Close up of the 2nd Photo)

(Close up of the 1st Photo)

This is the cross in context. I am standing behind the North-West corner of the church,
roughly facing south. The building behind is the community hall attached (not physically)  to St Cuthbert,s church. The memorial cross relating to the fallen from the congregation is at the front of this building. The road that is front of the church and the community hall is the "back road from Lytham to Blackpool. This road also has the Cross dedicated to St Cuthbert.

Not often I consider a page closed but unless someone can come up with more information to add...