Commonwealth War Graves in Darton

 

The headstone of Private Matthew Adam Thornton

Having had a good look at All Saints church and the Grade II Listed grave slabs in its churchyard, I headed off to try and find the 24 Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) headstones that are recorded as being here. 

 

Shoeing Smith Corporal G. Popplewell

I did not have a plan with the layout of the plots and so I just systematically walked up and down the churchyard row by row, spotting their distinctive shape from a distance, and it wasn’t long before I found the Stancliffe Darley Dale sandstone headstone of Shoeing Smith Corporal G. Popplewell of the Royal Field Artillery, which is still in excellent condition. 

 

Private Matthew Adam Thornton

 

The headstone of Private Matthew Adam Thornton, of the Yorkshire Regiment, has clipped shoulders, which is a mark that the victim died ouside the core WWI or WWII dates maintained by the CWGC. These are known as Ministry of Defence (MOD) graves, but CWGC maintains the headstones on their behalf. 

Private G. Margison and Gunner J. Margison

Sometimes the CWGC headstones have a double, intertwined regimental crest where brothers are commemorated in the same place, as with Private G. Margison of the Pioneer Corps and his brother Gunner J. Margison of the 41st Searchlight Regiment. 

 

A detail of the Margison headstone

Whereas most of the headstones that I have encountered in this churchyard are made of Portland stone, I think that this is actually Botticino marble from Italy, which has been used for replacement headstones in recent years and are typically cut by a CNC milling machine. 

 

Gunner K. Howard

 

The headstone of Gunner K. Howard, who served in both the 43rd Searchlight Regiment and the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment, is made in Portland stone and with a regimental crest that I can't recall seeing anywhere before. 

 

A detail of the Duke of Wellington's regimental crest

 

I certainly hadn’t encountered the Army Cyclist Corps, which I discovered on the Portland stone headstone of Private A. Shaw. I managed to find 19 of the 24 headstones listed on the CWGC website, most of which are made in Portland stone and whose regimental crests were familiar to me, but by now I had to catch my bus back to Barnsley. 

 

A detail of the headstone of Private A. Shaw

 

Making my way back towards the church, I couldn't help noticing the imposing monument to Henry Lodge, made in Scottish Rubislaw and Peterhead granite with a sandstone plinth. Next to it is a near cylindrical section made of a similar granite, but I am not sure if it relates to it. 

 

The memorial to Henry Lodge

 

I finished my rapid of tour of Darton at the unlisted war memorial, made of Crosland Moor sandstone from Huddersfield, at the north-west corner of the churchyard. I didn’t have to wait that long before the bus arrived and I was on my way to Barnsley - to see the exhibitions at The Civic and Cooper Gallery, before doing some shopping in the market and then returning to Sheffield on the train, before catching another bus to take me home to Treeton.

 

Darton war memorial