Memorials - Much Hoole - St.Michael & All Angels WW1 Cross

St Michael & All Angels, Liverpool Old Road, Much Hoole, PR4 5JQ
​Ordnance Survey Grid Reference - SD 46284 22309
IWM War Memorials Register - 54968
War Memorials Online - WMO144272
The cross stands in the churchyard. It was dedicated by the Bishop Suffragan of Whalley, Atherton Rawstorne on 21 November 1920. It carries the names of 26 men who died in the Great War and a further 3 who died in World War 2. An account of the dedication was published in the local press. 
HOOLE WAR MEMORIAL. BISHOP OF WHALLEY'S TRIBUTE TO FALLEN. The Bishop of Whalley, on Saturday afternoon, dedicated the cross that has been set up in Hoole Churchyard in memory of the soldiers of Hoole and district who fell in the Great War. A preliminary service was held in the church, which was crowded.
The Rev. Canon Stather Hunt, Vicar of Leyland, and Chaplain to the Forces in France (1914-18), delivered an address, in the course of which he said that again and again it had been his privilege to be with the soldiers in the theatre of war. He had seen them under all sorts of conditions, and could say there was nothing in all the world like the English "Tommy." They were brighter and braver than any other set of men in the wide world. He had in mind one soldier - whose name they would know if he mentioned it - who, when shot, could just lift himself up and say before he fell back, "Lads, you are doing splendidly; I am glad to die like this." All these men whose names were recorded on the Hoole monument played their part nobly in upholding the honour of England. They did their duty before God. They fought for what they felt to be right. They fought against that awful theory that might was right. They had done their part, and it was now our part to see that the fruits of the victory so dearly won by them were not thrown away.
After the service a procession was formed of the relatives, the choir, the bishop, clergy and congregation. When the people were all gathered around the monument in the churchyard the Bishop of Whalley solemnly dedicated the memorial, and the relatives, many of whom were very deeply affected, came forward and deposited wreaths and other floral tributes round the base of the cross.
Short addresses were delivered from the steps of the cross by the rector of Hoole (the Rev. F. C. Dunne), the Rev. W. D. Judson and Mr. T. Harrison Myres, architect of the monument. LANCASHIRE DAILY POST - Monday 22 November 1920
All images © Charles O'Donnell 2018
Front Panel
ERECTED
IN
THANKSGIVING
TO
GOD
FOR THE NOBLE
SACRIFICE OF THE
MEN OF HOOLE
AND DISTRICT
WHO FELL IN
THE GREAT WAR
OF
1914-1919
-----
1939-1945
Left Panel
ERNEST A. BARKER
WILLIAM BARKER
JOB BENTHAM
RICHARD BRIGGS
JAMES COULTON
JOHN FIDDLER
THOMAS FORSHAW
ALFRED GIDLOW
JOHN HARRISON
THOMAS HARRISON
FREDERICK HODSON
-----
JACK JONES
EDMUND WIGNALL
ALBERT WORTHINGTON
Right Panel
RICHARD HUNT
WILLIAM H. JACKSON
THOMAS MAWDSLEY
WILLIAM RILEY
JOHN SUTTON
JAMES WEBSTER
THOMAS WEBSTER
RICHARD WEBSTER
HARRY H. WEBSTER
THOMAS WIGNALL
JOHN E. BARNISH
JAMES BARKER
WILLIAM BIRD
NICHOLAS TOPPING
JOHN W. WOOD
Charles O'Donnell
Please email the project with any amendments or corrections
Published 27 May 2018
Preston & Central Lancashire WFA
© Preston & Central Lancashire Western Front Association 2020
The WFA was formed in 1980 to maintain interest in the First World War (1914-1918). We work to perpetuate the memory, courage and comradeship of all, from all sides, on all Fronts: on land, at sea, in the air and on the Home Front. The WFA is non-political and does not seek to glorify war.