Stathern Remembrance Service, 10 November 2024.
Address: The Origins of the Stathern War Memorial Institute
Today, with so much discussion on the future of this building, our War Memorial Institute, I would like to tell you about its origins.
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During WW1, Mr John Crosby Warren, a Nottingham solicitor, was living in the house I now occupy, the White Cottage in Chapel Lane. His son, a Cambridge graduate and lawyer in his father’s firm, Major John Crosby Warren (exactly the same names as his father), who had won the Military Cross in France for bravery in 1915, had been killed in action in France in 1918 aged 28. Warren senior, who undoubtedly would have been devastated by his son’s death, wanted a village memorial to all 12 of the Stathern men who died in the war. It seems that a building to be of use by the community was proposed rather than having a memorial stone or cross, and this would have met with approval by the village.
Under the chairmanship of the Rector, Revd. Walter New, a Buildings Committee was formed to progress the idea, probably in January 1919. Mr Warren had a connection with the Nottingham YMCA Red Triangle. YMCA stands for Young Men’s Christian Association, still in existence today. The Red Triangle was the early symbol of the YMCA, consisting of an inverted red triangle. The YMCA advised on the formation of memorials to the war dead across the whole country in WW1 and WW2. The Stathern committee met in the room above the outbuilding at The White Cottage. It’s a small draughty room in the eaves with a small fireplace, and it is still there today. The committee apparently soon moved on to the Rectory as it was warmer than the outbuilding. They operated as a fundraising committee and money began to be collected in the village. Mr Warren personally also raised a lot of funds. The Duke of Rutland donated this site.
The amount of preparatory work done by the committee was immense and by September 1919 the committee was able to award the contract to build the institute to Mr G Jackson and his companion Mr R Rowbotham, who were local Stathern builders. It cost about £630 to build which was just a little more than the contract price. The committee then met in the school until the building was complete.It seems that work started during the depths of winter 1919. The Rector’ daughter, Grace New, wrote about the day when work started. She wrote:“It was The Day in our village! No one would have thought it, to look at the weather which was loathsome. The wind roared down from the north, bitter and searching, bringing thick snow storms with it. A notice outside the Post Office torn to shreds by the wind proclaimed “Wanted Volunteers – to dig the foundations of the War Memorial on Saturday at 1.30. Bring your own tools”.She goes on to say that many men of all ages turned up. She writes: “They dug with passion and soon the rectangular trench was knee deep. The women supplied a milk can of tea and a biscuit tin full of cake. A shout went up, “We’ve struck a drain!”. The parson, the builder, the local architect, every hanger-on, and a small boy ran up and gazed breathlessly at the drainpipe. Fear of the District Council set every knee shaking till they were quite sure that it was not cracked”.
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Mr Warren laid the foundation stone on 9 December 1919 and you can see this in the wall as you enter the building. The Grand Opening of the Stathern Memorial Institute by the Duke of Rutland took place on Thursday 20 May 1920. The Grantham Journal published a long report just two days later. It said that Stathern now possessed a fine Institute of red brick comprising a large hall, ladies and gentlemen’s cloak rooms, a well-equipped kitchen and the usual offices. The hall was to be used every evening as a reading and recreation room and would also house the village library which already had a good supply of books. There will be lectures, concerts, whist drives and dances and at least once a fortnight they hoped to arrange some form of entertainment for the ladies. Apparently a billiard table was also installed and in time a stage and a piano. The Stathern Tennis Club moved from the White Cottage garden to a new court installed at the back of the Institute (where the lawn now is).
Outside, on the front wall was (and still is) a black marble tablet listing those 12 men who had died in the Great War. At the opening ceremony, with many dignitaries present, they all sang “O God our help in ages past”, just as we sang it today. The Duke of Rutland spoke at length at the Opening Ceremony, Mr Warren provided a vote of thanks, there were further speakers, another hymn was sung, and refreshments served. Later there was a dance and the next evening there was a whist drive.The Grantham Journal said that the Institute had a very efficient committee under the chairmanship of the Rector, and between 60 and 70 members. Only men over the age of 16 were allowed to be members for a small annual subscription; ladies admitted by invitation only! A copy of the first Constitution survives. The building was called the Stathern War Memorial (Red Triangle) Institute, affiliated to the YMCA. There was a committee of 15, with one third rotating annually. The constitution states “Under no circumstances shall intoxicants be allowed on the premises and that betting, gambling and swearing be prohibited”. It seems that, as it was written as an option in the Constitution, the connection with the YMCA was terminated after 5 years.
Most of the Minute Books of this WMI survive (except those during WW2) and these have recently been deposited at the Leicestershire County Records Office. The early books record the discussions to provide a Roll of Honour listing all those who had an association with the village who served in the war. It must have been a lot of work to collect all the information because it took them 3 years to complete and erect the magnificent Roll of Honour Board, which was dedicated in 1923. The Board is one of relatively few in the country that records all those 114 people who served in WW1, both men and women, and not just the ones who died. The dedication service of the Roll of Honour Board in 1923 was recorded by the Grantham Journal, which reported that 40 ex-servicemen paraded and marched up to the church where there is another brass memorial. Conspicuous in the ranks was little William Helsdon aged 8 years wearing the medals of his father (Private William Helsdon) who had been killed shortly before the boy was born.
You will see that at the end of the WW1 Roll are the names of four women, together with their dates of entry to the war. They had non-combative roles in nursing, and may have seen service in France. The first named, Edith Alderman, was awarded the prestigious Royal Red Cross which was presented to her by King George V at Buckingham Palace in 1917. Altogether there are 110 men’s names and 4 women’s names recorded for WW1.
We don’t know much about the use of the Institute in WW2 but I believe there were dances held here. I was told that the Canadian airman at Langar airfield would visit Stathern, as well as other service men stationed locally. There was a group of 37 recruits to the Woman’s Land Army (the ‘Land Girls’) housed in the Rectory during WW2, and we recently found out that at the end of the war they had a German prisoner-of-war as their cook and he married a Leicester telephone exchange operator and made a new life in this country. After WW2 the names of 33 service men and women were added to the Roll, six of them having died during the war, and we have especially remembered those who gave their lives at this Remembrance Service.
The Roll remains unaltered today, with perhaps just one or two errors. A memorial tablet in white marble with the names of those who died in WW1 was also erected inside the Stathern Methodist Chapel in Chapel Lane, but I can find no record of when it was first dedicated. When the chapel closed, 20 or so years ago and rebuilt as a residential property, the memorial was placed in the Institute front garden which you pass to enter this building. A clock was placed outside on the front gable in 1966 donated by the Stathern Women’s Institute to mark their Golden Jubilee.
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Like all buildings of some age, maintenance and alterations have been made to the Institute over the years and also, more recently, some fairly substantial improvements, additions, and renovations have been carried out. The current governing document for the Institute is a conveyance and trust deed dated 15th April 1987, with Stathern War Memorial Institute becoming a registered charity later that year. However it is an unincorporated charity, without its own legal identity. When an unincorporated charity owns property or land it can appoint a Custodian Trustee to hold the title deeds on their behalf in perpetuity. The Custodian Trustee must be a corporate body, such as a Parish Council or the Official Custodian of Charities. Whilst the Custodian Trustee holds the title to all property on behalf of the charity, it does not take part in the day-to-day management and operation of the charity. The governing document for the WMI states that Stathern Parish Council was appointed as the Custodian Trustee of the Institute. The Parish Council takes no part in the decision making of the WMI; their role is to hold on to the title documents for the life of the WMI, and provide them if requested. It is the Managing Trustees who are responsible and liable for the running of the WMI.
Our Roll of Honour remains a symbol of our Remembrance, and out of the horrors of war this building has strengthened friendship within our community for the past 104 years. The War Memorial Institute has been, like the church, the centre of village life. And now with the future of the building being discussed let us hope the village continues to acknowledge the service all these local men and women gave to their country in the two world wars.
Roger Hawkins