War Graves in Darnall Cemetery

 

The regimental crest on the headstone of Private T. Sproson

A couple of days after my walk from Tinsley to Brightside, in the industrial east end of Sheffield, I took advantage of another fine April day to undertake a British Listed Buildings Photo Challenge in Darnall, which I had first visited 4 years earlier when exploring the Sheffield Board Schools and then when photographing the chapels and war memorial in Tinsley Park Cemetery. 

 

The Listed buildings in Darnall Ward

Of the 53 listed buildings in Darnall Ward, 47 of these had already been photographed – all but 3 by myself – and the last 6 were all structures relating to the steel industry that have very little interest to this Language of Stone Blog. I therefore compiled a list of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) headstones at Darnall Cemetery to start off my day. 

 

The CWGC headstones in Darnall Cemetery

 

Although one of the smaller cemeteries in Sheffield, with an area of approximately 2.2 hectares, it is not always easy to find the headstones - as I had discovered at St. Lawrence’s churchyard in Tinsley earlier in the week - and I managed to find a plot map that would help me to locate the 13 CWGC headstones that are recorded in this cemetery. 

 

The plot map of Darnall Cemetery

The only regiment on my list that I had not yet encountered was the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps, to which Private A. Smith was attached, but its crest is a simple maple leaf - as I had previously seen at St. Mary’s churchyard in Bolsterstone, on the headstone of Private P. Woodhead of the Canadian Infantry. 

 

The headstone of Private A. Smith

 

Looking closely at the Portland stone, the surface has weathered significantly and many of the details of the crest have lost their sharp profiles and parts of the inscription are now becoming illegible, which is probably attributable to the sulphurous atmospheric pollution that was generated by the numerous steelworks in the east end of Sheffield. 

 

A detail of the headstone of Private A. Smith

The Headstone Schedule for Private. A. Smith also includes those of Aircraftman F. Hemmings of the Royal Air Force, Private G. Roe of the Leicestershire Regiment, Corporal W. Ellis and Private T. Sproson of the Royal Army Service Corps. The headstones are all made of Portland stone, with that of the latter being a replacement, and the details of the crests and inscriptions of the others having deteriorated considerably. 

 

Various headstones made with Portland stone

 

Portland stone is also used for the headstone of Private J. Grayson of the King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, which has again weathered with a loss of detail and, quite surprisingly, has a covering of lichen. The CWGC take great care to clean their headstones, with this undertaken both by employees and volunteers, and I can’t recall seeing a headstone in such a condition. 

 

Lichen on the headstone of Private J. Grayson

 

I next encountered the headstones of Private J. Macrae of the King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry and Private G. Stones of the York and Lancaster Regiment, which are clearly different to those described above. They immediately reminded me of the headstones of Private T. Sharp and Private E. Stickland in Handsworth New Cemetery, which I thought are made of Welsh slate. 

 

the headstone of Private J. Macrae

On both of the slate headstones in Darnall Cemetery, the stone had been broken to reveal very fine grained slate, but the headstone of Private G. Stones looks on my photos to be greenish in colour, with part of the broken surface having the same colouration - a characteristic usually associated with volcanic green slate.

 

The headstone of Private G. Stones

It certainly doesn’t look like the slate from the Borrowdale Volcanic Group, which I spent 6 weeks mapping as an undergraduate geologist and I tend to immediately recognise. I would have to take another look at this, but Welsh slate does often contain bands of volcanic ash – as I had seen on Neville Street in Leeds the year before. 

 

The headstone of Private L. Brown

 

The next headstone that I encountered, Private L. Brown of the York and Lancaster Regiment, is made of a granite that is not recorded on the Headstone Schedule, which also includes Gunner J.R. Willoughby of the Royal Garrison Artillery, Private T. Whiteley and Private F. Benson of the East Yorkshire Regiment and Private A. Glover of the York and Lancaster Regiment. 

 

Various headstones made of granite

Creetown, Inver and Rubislaw granites are recorded on the Headstone Schedules on a few of the headstones that I have encountered in various cemeteries in Sheffield and, corresponding with the CWGC, I have been informed that Glenaby and Vire Blanc granite from France have been used when the limited availability and cost of the Scottish granites became prohibitive; however, looking online, I have not found definitive examples of these French granites to enable me to identify them.

 

A detail of the headstone of Gunner J.R. Willoughby

 

Taking a closer look at the headstone of Gunner J.R. Willoughby, it looks like the Creetown granite that is recorded as having been used for Driver C.H. Eagers of the Royal Engineers at Crookes Cemetery and which I think has also been used in Handsworth New Cemetery. 

 

A detail of the headstone of Driver C.H. Eagers in Crookes Cemetery

As a geologist with specialist interests in building stones, I have seen many granites and have included some of those from the British Isles in the Triton Stone Library, which has since been transferred to Sheffield Hallam University.  I am not an expert in the identification of granites and I submitted a close up photo of the headstone of Private L. Brown to the British Geological Survey Asset Bank, but the results were not very helpful.

 

A detail of the granite used for the headstone of Private L. Brown

  

A Walk From Tinsley to Brightside

 

Glacial erratics at the former Papa's Fish and Chips on Attercliffe Common

 

After photographing St. Lawrence’s church and its lychgate in Tinsley, to start my British Listed Buildings Photo Challenge, and then finding the Commonwealth War Graves Commission headstones in the churchyard, I headed to Bawtry Road and came to a shopping parade where large rough blocks of iron rich sandstone have been used for landscaping. 

 

Sandstone blocks used for landscaping on Bawtry Road

 

From my general knowledge of the area and having completed a few Photo Challenges around the industrial east end of Sheffield, I knew that I wouldn’t find much subject matter that is of interest to this Language of Stone Blog. Nevertheless, I was just pleased to have a walk in the sunshine and learn something more about Sheffield’s industrial history. 

 

A boundary wall on Bawtry Road

A little further along Bawtry Road, a substantial boundary wall, which now fronts a mid C20 block of flats, is built with a sandstone that looks very similar to the sandstone used for the boundary wall of St. Lawrence’s churchyard, although it is quite well coursed and squared. 

 

The Tinsley Council School war memorial

 

Crossing over to have a quick look at the former Tinsley Meadows Primary School, which has now been moved to a much larger school in extensive grounds on the opposite side of Bawtry Road, I noticed an obelisk in a small green adjacent to it. Going to investigate this, an inscription shoes that it is a war memorial that commemorates pupils of Tinsley Council School who died in WWI. 

 

A detail of the war memorial

 

I didn’t look at it closely with my hand lens, but this massive uniformly buff coloured medium grained sandstone is probably from Derbyshire or West Yorkshire, where Stancliffe Darley Dale stone from the Corbar Grit and Bolton Woods stone from the Elland Flags respectively have often been used for war memorials. 

 

Tinsley Carnegie Library

 

Crossing over Siemens Close, I stopped to take a couple of photos of the former Tinsley Carnegie Library by the architects Holmes and Watson, which looks very neglected. It is not a listed building but the inscription above the entrance is carved with raised lettering on brick, which is quite unusual, and this building has now been registered on the South Yorkshire Local Heritage List.

 

Views of the Sheffield and Tinsley Canal

The next building on my list to photograph was Carbrook Hall, which is set back from Attercliffe Common, a busy road with very little of interest along it and I therefore decided to walk along the towpath of the Sheffield and Tinsley Canal, where I hoped that I might see a kingfisher. 

 

The Looping Boat

 

I had first walked along this section of the canal during the COVID-19 Pandemic in September 2020, not long after a walk along the Chesterfield Canal when I was very impressed by the set of locks, but the Looping Boat by Alex Chinneck had not been installed at the time. 

 

The Marble Players

Leaving the canal towpath by a footbridge that crosses the railway line, I continued along Lock House Road to Attercliffe Common and stopped to take a few more photos of the Marble Players by Vega Berjemo Castelnau, whose work can be seen elsewhere in Sheffield. 

 

Views of Carbrook Hall

 

Arriving at Carbrook Hall (c.1632), which was once owned by Sir John Bright who fought on the Parliamentarian side during the English Civil Wars, I had a quick walk around the exterior to take general record photos. I didn’t examine the stone used for the plinth or the mainly mullioned windows, but several quarries worked the Parkgate Rock along the north side of the Don Valley and it is quite possible that this has been used here. 

 

Sections of masonry restored in red sandstone

 

On the south end of the west elevation, however, I was very interested to see that a bright red sandstone has been used to restore mullions and transoms on some of the windows, as well as the string course above, which suggests that the original sandstone is reddened, but I can’t confirm this from my photos and I would have to take another look. 

 

Views of the Sheffield Forgemasters buildings on Attercliffe Common

 

Leaving Carbrook Hall, I took a few photographs of the building that contains the electric arc furnace at Sheffield Forgemasters, together with the tall buildings that filter dust and gas from the furnaces and form a landmark on the way from Sheffield to Rotherham. 

 

Glacial erratics outside the former Papa's Fish and Chips

 

Continuing along Attercliffe Common past the now closed Papa’s Fish and Chips, I was surprised to see that five large glacial erratics have been placed quite randomly on the grass and paving, without any associated formal landscaping or planting. 

 

An erratic with possible glacial striations

 

I didn’t closely examine them with my hand lens, but the largest erratic appears to be a gneiss, with three of the others possibly being quartzite, with what may be glacial striations. The other erratic has a distinctly green appearance, with the iron minerals within it developing a brown patina, which I think is from the Borrowdale Volcanic Group in Cumbria. 

 

An erratic from the Borrowdale Volcanic Group

 

Turning into Hawke Street, I continued past buildings owned by Forge Solutions Ltd. and stopped to take a photo of the Abyssinian Bridge over the River Don, where Staffordshire Blue bricks have been used for the walling and very coarse grained Chatsworth Grit - very probably from the Rivelin Valley - for the coping stones. 

 

A detail of Abyssinia Bridge

Arriving at Brightside Lane, there is another complex of Sheffield Forgemasters buildings, the River Don Works, which includes the Grade II listed Vickers Building, with the central offices (1906) by A.F. Watson for Vickers, Son & Co. with adjoining workshop ranges (1911) for Vickers, Son & Maxim/Vickers Ltd. In addition, the remaining early C20 wall incorporated into the later C20 works on the south side of Brightside Lane is also Grade II listed.

 

Views of the River Don Works on Brightside Lane

A passer by who used to work there informed me that the interior is lavishly decorated - highlighted by Historic England as marbles and terrazzo for the floors and stairs - but the only material that I noted when reading the blue plaque was the granitic stone to the main door surround, which I think might be a variety of larvikite. 

 

The blue plaque on the Vickers Building

 

After a walk of nearly 4 miles that had taken me 2½ hours, before catching the X3 bus back to Sheffield, I took a few photos of The Scorpion (2013) by Robin Widdowson and Sara Beavan, which was fabricated by apprentices at Sheffield Forgemasters.

 

The Scorpion

Graveyard Geology in Tinsley

 

The Royal Navy crest on the headstone of Petty Officer A.T. Clark

St. Lawrence’s church in Tinsley is built with various sandstones and, having taken a set of photos for my British Listed Buildings Photo Challenge, I went to look for the seven Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) headstones that are recorded in the churchyard. 

 

The headstone of Gunner A.E. Price

 

The first headstone that I encountered commemorates Gunner A.E. Price of the 92nd Anti-Tank Regiment of the Gordon Highlanders, which is made out of Portland stone. Looking closely at this oolitic limestone, the numerous tiny shell fragments within it are standing proud, which is more typically seen in the WWI headstones. 

 

The regimental crest on the headstone of Gunner A.E. Price

 

Portland stone has also been used for the headstone of Lance Corporal H.E. Powell of the Pioneer Corps, but the fine details of the regimental crest have deteriorated considerably, with the motto below being completely illegible. 

 

The regimental crest on the headstone of Lance Corporal H.E. Powell

Both of these headstones, along with that of Sergeant E.H.C. Hardman of the Royal Air Force, which has been replaced with Botticino marble, appear on the same mason’s worksheet and the grave registration form for them has a date of 18th December 1957. 

 

The regimental crest on the headstone of Sergeant E.H.C. Hardman

Tinsley forms part of the industrial east end of Sheffield, where the steelworks spread all the way along the Lower Don Valley were a major producer of sulphurous atmospheric pollutants. Although by the 1980’s, the Conservative government policy under Margaret Thatcher led to the rapid decline of the local steel industry, it is likely that the industry had an effect on the decay of the Portland stone headstone. This probably also includes the headstone of Petty Officer Telegraphist A.T. Clark of the Royal Navy, where the original stone has been replaced with Botticino 'marble'.

 

The headstone of Petty Officer A.T. Clark

Sandstone is used for the headstones of Private E. Brown of the West Yorkshire Regiment and Lance Bombardier R. A. Bywater of the Royal Field Artillery. I didn’t examine them with my hand lens, but the only sandstones that I have seen used by the CWGC to date are Stancliffe Darley Dale stone from the Corbar Grit/Ashover Grit and Woodkirk Blue stone from the Thornhill Rock. 

 

The headstones of Private E. Brown and Lance Bombardier R.A. Bywater

The headstone of R. A. Bywater, in particular, has a developed a brown patina that I had seen at Wadsley churchyard in Sheffield and Moorgate Cemetery in Rotherham, where the mason’s worksheet records that Woodkirk Blue stone had been used. 

 

Spalling on the headstone of Private R.A. Bywater

 

The sandstone of this headstone has also started to spall in places, which is more likely in the Thornhill Rock, a sandstone from the Pennine Middle Coal Measures Formation that is not as durable as the Stancliffe Darley Dale stone from the Millstone Grit Group. 

 

The grave slabs of Elizabeth and John Wright Potter

The older grave slabs are made of a fine grained sandstone that is probably from a quarry in the Greenmoor Rock around Brincliffe Edge and Ecclesall Road in Sheffield, which is known as Brincliffe Edge Rock and developed a very good reputation for is monumental quality stone. 

 

The memorial to members of the Gray family

I noted various Victorian memorials made of granite, including the tapering square column with an entablature and topped with an urn, which commemorates various members of the Gray family, but I didn’t take a close look at any of these. 

 

A figurative sculpture carved in Carrara marble

White Italian Carrara marble is used for various memorials and, as seen at Handsworth New Cemetery earlier in the month, the marble is deeply weathered and has developed a saccharoidal texture. The extent of the loss of surface material is seen in the memorial to Arthur and Florence Crossland, where the lead lettering for the former protected the underlying marble from chemical weathering to leave this standing proud, until the letters fell off. 

 

The memorial to Arthur and Florence Crossland

Leaving the churchyard by the Grade II listed lychgate (1877), by G.E. Street, I noted that the boundary wall is built with very irregularly bedded thinly coursed sandstone, which is plane bedded and generally grey in colour but with considerable iron staining in places. 

 

The lychgate

 

Although the quoins to the lychgate and coping stones for the boundary wall are likely to have been brought in from a source of better quality building stone, which could be some distance away, such rough walling has probably been obtained from a local unnamed Pennine Middle Coal Measures Formation sandstone, but I can’t see any quarries in the immediate vicinity on the old Ordnance Survey maps. 

 

The geological map of the area around Tinsley

Looking closer at my photographs of the boundary wall, I can see occasional pieces of massive dull red sandstone that look like the one used in the quoins to the 1925 vestry of the church, which I presume to be Rotherham Red sandstone and are most likely to have been used with the occasional brick for contemporary repairs to the wall.

 

The boundary wall to the churchyard