View of the Cross of Sacrifice at the Western Cemetery on Cemetery Road in Darwen.
View of a grave in the Western Cemetery on Cemetery Road in Darwen, this is a headstone for Private A. G. Hargreaves.
View of a Memorial in the Western Cemetery on Cemetery Road in Darwen, this is for Lieutenant Edward Deakin Ashton.
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Belgrave Square
The South Africa War, also known as the 2nd Boer War, commenced on 11th October 1899 and ended on 31st May 1902. It resulted in the loss at least 22,000 British, 25,000 Boer and 12,000 African lives. Amongst those who made the Supreme sacrifice where 14 Darwen men. Their names, along with those who volunteered, are recorded on the towns War Memorial which is situated in Belgrave Square. The memorial was unveiled on 18th of April 1903, it was a personal gift of Alderman John Tomlinson.
The Roll of Honour can be viewed on Darwen Heritage Centre’s website at:
The memorial does not record the names of the men who were in the regular army and served in the South African War. If your relative served in the South Africa the Heritage Centre would be interested to hear from you.
Email:
darwenheritagecentre@hotmail.com
Sudden storms and flooding are not unknown in Darwen, but despite global warming there has been nothing like the great storm of August 1848 which burst the banks of Bold Venture Lodge and brought a torrent down into the town centre, drowning 12 people. To ensure that such a disaster could not happen again, extensive tipping was carried out to raise the land to its present level.
Work on the park started in 1889, after the land had been purchased from the Rev WA Duckworth. Mr W Stubbs, Borough Engineer was responsible for the basic layout and design of the park and Mr Thomas Hogg, the Park Superintendent took care of the landscaping and gardening work.
A kiosk was opened in 1902 donated by Mr and Mrs Ashton. It had accommodation for 50 people in the tea-room. Later it became thre home of Bold Venture Park.
A war memorial erected by public subscription to the honoured memory of Belthorn men who fell in the Great War of 1914-1919.
The Oswaldtwistle War memorial was erected by public subscription and unveiled on Saturday, January 14th 1922 by Major General Shoubridge CB, CMG, DSO. The memorial is a monument consisting of a polished granite pedestal standing upon three steps and embellished with bronze groups. The total height from the ground is 30ft. The monument is crowned with a winged figure of Victory in bronze, standing upon a globe. On the centre plinth is a bronze group of two soldiers, one in the act of defending his wounded comrade, entitled 'Patriotism'. Projecting from the centre plinth, on a level with the group are ships' prows each containing a small winged figure in bronze: one representing the spirit of the navy and the other the spirit of the air force. On the front of the monument is the inscription: 'Erected to the memory of the Men of Oswaldtwistle who fell in the Great War, 1914-1918'.
A photograph of the War memorial at Queen's Square, Hoddlesden. This monument is a memorial to those who fell in the First, Second and Falklands Wars. An inscription reads: 'To the Glory of God and in memory of the men of Hoddlesden, Waterside, Pickup Bank and Blacksnape who made the supreme sacrifice. For Freedom and Honour. The Great War 1914-1918. May they Rest in Peace who died to give us Peace. November 11th 1918 - 1917 - 1916 - 1915 - August 4th 1914. Sons of this place, let this of you be said, that you who live are worthy of your dead. These gave their lives that you may live may reap a richer harvest ere you fall asleep'. There are 44 names on the memorial and the inscription for those who fell in World War Two reads: 'In Grateful Remembrance of the men of this place who died for freedom. 1939-1945. More brave for this that had much to love'.
Darwen has over twenty Christian churches giving witness and places to which the people from town could join in worship over the last 400 years. Everyone has a War Memorial to church members who died in war.
The Imperial War Museum discovered that many hundreds of church memorials existed in the United Kingdom but it did not in fact have a record of photographs. The museum asked local communities to record them and send them as a permanent record of the variety and types of commemoration.
In Darwen a small group undertook the task with the generous help and support from Darwen Camera Club, Blackburn with Darwen Library and Information Services and the Lloyd Trust to record all the Memorials and donate a set of framed photographs to the Borough of Blackburn with Darwen. Copies of the information on CD ROM would be sent to the Imperial War Museums in both London and Manchester.
The photographs record the many men and woman who died in the two major conflicts and stand as a permanent reminder of the vast sacrifice they gave. Many of listed worked and lived in the town it is hoped that the resource will help relatives and researchers in discovering the wealth of information recorded in the churches.
The project will evolve and eventually will provide more detail on each memorial and the individuals listed on them.
