All text and images © Helvellyn Consulting 2023
Towards the end of the First World War the inhabitants of Patterdale collected money in order to establish a permanent Monument as a Memorial to the Officers and Men who fell in the Great War.
William Hibbert Marshall, owner of Patterdale Hall, donated a piece of land to allow for the building of a permanent Monument in February 1921 on the shores of Ullswater, midway between Glenridding and Patterdale. The memorial slab was hewn from a twenty ton piece of local slate and the eventual undressed slate stone still weighs in at around 5 tons. It was unveiled in October 1921.
As part of the 100th Anniversary Commemoration of the outbreak of World War One, we have tried to find out more about the men whose names are inscribed on the Memorial, on the Roll of Honour in the Village Hall, and also about life in and around Patterdale and Glenridding at the time.
Their generation have all gone now, but their stories still resonate. From research including interviews with people around the Dale, trawling local Newspapers archives, studying the Parish Registers, online investigation and frankly a lot of guesswork, we have tried to piece together the stories of each of these men as far as we can.
The project started off as part of a project on behalf of Patterdale School and has now been enlarged into a wider community project involving St Patrick’s Church and the Parish Council. We have so far researched the lives of 125 men, including the 103 who are listed on the Glenridding Village Hall Roll of Honour, and the 15 men from the First World War on the Patterdale War Memorial.
There are still some areas for which we are looking for information, including the stories of eight men who died in World War Two. We would be grateful for any additional knowledge anyone can add. We would also like to thank all those who have assisted in our efforts to date and to apologise wholeheartedly for any unintentional inaccuracies in any of our presented research.
We realise that no amount of words could ever fully do justice to the suffering and sacrifice made by those who died and by those who fought and survived. Suffice to say that we are forever in their debt and can never imagine what they went through. We hope that by trying to tell their story and keep their memory alive, we can perhaps repay a small part of our enormous debt of gratitude to them, and help others to remember their sacrifice in the “War to End All Wars”……
Rob Shephard and Norman Jackson
For King and Country
This stone was erected in memory
of the men of this parish
Who fell in the Great War 1914 -
Lest we forget
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them
Patterdale & Glenridding War Memorial Project
2023
If you have any information please get in touch -
We also remember
Who gave their lives in
The Second World War 1939-
Contact Us
Open Mysteries
Explore the stories of the children from Patterdale School in 1889. Many fought and some tragically died. Discover More…
