Happy New Year! A few updates

Happy New Year (better late than never!)

I've had a break from the blog over Christmas but things have still been moving along. Relatives of two of the  men have contacted me and I've been able to share some information with them which fantastic.

I've obtained the naval record of Matthew Chisam and updated his page with some of the information - more to come.

The page for William Bolton has also been updated with photographs of his entry in the Roll of Honour at Liverpool Anglican Cathedral and I've also corrected my mistake with the date he was wounded. 

Church Open Day 23rd December

Just wanted to tell anyone who doesn't know that St James Church is having an event on Sunday 23rd December at 3pm. It will be a chance to look around inside the church to see how the work is going and learn a bit more about the history of the building.  Weather permitting, I will be there with the plank from the memorial and my files about the men on it, I'm hoping I'll have the chance to chat to anyone interested in the project and wouldn't it be great if we could find some more relatives of the men named on the memorial?

There will also be a bit of carol singing, mince pies and mulled wine to get us all in the Christmas spirit. Should be very festive and fun.

It will also be very cold so if you're going to join us please wrap up warm!

Posterity

This blog has been accepted by the UK Web Archive, that means that if something happens to the blog a copy of it will be available and freely accesible in the digital archive.
It takes a while to be processed but once it's done my research and the information about the memorial and the men on it will be preserved "for future generations"

If you have a website or blog which you think is worth preserving it's free and easy to apply on their website.

http://www.webarchive.org.uk/ukwa/

article about the memorial fragment

You can read an article about how the piece of the memorial was found, identified and returned to Liverpool here:

http://www.leicestershirevillages.com/barrowuponsoar/solving-the-mystery-of-barrows-p.html

The War Memorial Reredos and Roll of Honour Panel

Last week I got to see inside the church for the first time and saw the remains of the reredos in the chancel... I noticed that the carvings on it were identical to the war memorial and that shed some light on something that had been bothering me...

Recently I was sent a copy of a history of the church written in 1925 by Rev C.T. Dawson. In this the Rev. Dawson says that in 1920 'The War Memorial Reredos and Roll of Honour Panel were erected and dedicated.' In the same book he referred to my photo of the War Memorial as the Roll of Honour Panel.

I realised that I had been misunderstanding the inscription on the War Memorial - the reference to 'this reredos' is in fact to the full reredos in the church - the Roll of Honour Panel which I have been researching was not part of the reredos.

This doesn't affect my project but does significantly increase the impressiveness of the St James War Memorial. Here is a photo of the War Memorial Reredos from 1971, the Roll of Honour Panel was attached to the wall on the left, out of the photo. 

And here is a photo of what was left by about 1995:

Not too bad considering the amount of vandalism and fire-setting that had gone on over the years. The church was made more secure in 1998 and extensive work was carried out between 2000-2002 to get it ready to open again.
However, the next available photograph, from 2000 shows this:

Most of the detailing from the central panel has gone, including the top, and all 4 of the side panels are gone.
I can't find any reference to it being stolen or taken away for safekeeping so it's a bit of a mystery. I'm hoping to find out. The ogee arch in the middle was broken and later reattached so it's likely at least some of the decoration was lost to vandalism but it seems more likely to me that the large side-panels were removed and stored.

I'll update you when I know more!