Lamps of Sacrifice: Hugglescote

Church of St John the Baptist

Grange Road, Hugglescote

Church designed by John Breedon Everard, 1878-79 (grade II* listed)

Inside the church, a war memorial tablet was unveiled on 27 March 1920. Its commemorates 101 men of the parish who died in the First World War. The names are engraved on a Swithland slate tablet set in a frame of Ketton stone. After the Second World War this was joined by two further plaques, one to commemorate those who worked at Clutsom & Kemp and the other the Ibstock Knitting Company.

Joseph William Cowley

Joseph William Cowley is commemorated on the First World War memorial. He had been a chorister at the church, a tenor horn player for the Hugglescote & Ellistown Band and an employee at Stableford & Co. Joseph was one of the first fifty territorials (known as the 'Famous Fifty') to leave Coalville. He was killed while tunnelling under enemy lines on 8 May 1916.

A memorial service for Joseph and Pte A Pegg was held at the Church of St John the Baptist at the beginning of June 1916. The large congregation was joined by members of Joseph's former band, who played 'Fight the Good Fight' and the 'Dead March' at the close.

Cemetery

Station Road, Hugglescote

Cemetery laid out by the District Surveyor in 1908 (not listed)

The six-acre cemetery contains three graves that are marked by IWGC headstones, including the grave of James Thomas Bishop. Inscriptions on private graves include those for Lt Charles Drewett and Pte Ronald Cross.

James Thomas Bishop

Bishop was a Company Sergeant Major in the Army Service Corps. James was a keen soldier and had served in the Territorial Force for eight years before contracting pneumonia. He died on 17 February 1919 at his Hugglescote home, aged 27. Over 2000 people attended his funeral to witness the interment, which was accompanied by military honours. 

Baptist Burial Ground

Grange Road, Hugglescote

A late nineteenth century burial ground (not listed)

The Baptist Burial Ground contains two graves that are marked by IWGC headstones, including the grave of Pte James Edwin Cox.

James Edwin Cox

Cox served in the Coldstream Guards after enlisting at Coalville. His death (like that of Bishop) was a result of contracting pneumonia. He died in Caterham, Surrey, on the 26 February 1915, aged 23. Arrangements were made for Pte Cox to be buried in Caterham, but his widowed mother requested a local funeral and he was laid to rest in the burial ground near to his father.

Witnessed by thousands, the funeral was the first military funeral in the district since the outbreak of the war.

Image credit: Ashley Howes