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I recently acquired this order of service which was folded in a book celebrating the centenary of the Providence Independent Chapel at Stainland West Yorkshire. The centenary was celebrated in the summer of 1914. A few short years later 22 men from the congregation were dead, and no doubt many of those commemorated on the side panels were changed by their experience. (The names are clear on the original I reduced the scan to upload it).

This document is four pages and gives the complete order of service. It's a bit damaged from being folded in the book for over 80 years.

The Chapel closed around 30 years ago and was converted to apartments. Fortunately the national inventory of war memorials shows it was moved to Southgate Methodist Church in Elland.

I guess there's a project there, dare I say it seems a manageable number to try and trace. I had a quick look at the CWGC and there is a naturally higher number of casualties from Yorkshire regiments. It must have been such a small community, the history records there were less than 250 members of the church in 1914 and it was probably the centre of their world until the war.

It seems Stainland built a cricket pitch to commemorate their heroes and afaik the village/town doesn't have any other memorial, other than those that were placed in the churches (though happy to stand corrected by a local - I'm in Sussex!).

My research is actually more centred on the Stainland Wesleyan Chapel (also demolished) and their brass plaque was apparently moved to the same location as this one, although that is shown as 'in storage' on the index.

May be of interest locally,

Ken

Ken,
The massive Blackley brickworks must have employed Stainland men as it is close to the village. If you were to research furthur then this now derelict factory may have left records behind. I know the area well as the in-laws lived at Outlane, and as my work takes me to Brighouse this afternoon I shall return the Halifax way and head for Elland, via Stainland, and have a recce of the area, especially looking out for the Southgate Methodist Church. It'll be nice and light up there still, when darkness has settled upon Sussex. Another advantage for the Northerner. I will report any finds.

Phil.

Hello,
There was a chap Pte David Dunwell Shepherd actually buried in the Stainland Wesleyan Chapelyard, I don't know what if anything happened to his grave, if the chapel was demolished.
Regards,
Spud

Called at the Bethdesa Methodist Chapel at the Top of Southgate but it was shut. The Notice board gave a tel. no. for the Rev. R. Gee which I rang but was informed that it did not take incoming calls. Mysterious ways..... Basically,got nowhere but will try again--perhaps on a Sunday. Spud, I will have a nosey round Stainland too. At least the Elland Chapel is used for Services, and not converted.
Cheers for now, Phil.

Thank you gentlemen, the Stainland Wesleyan Cemetery is still there, don't know about any CWG as I've yet to make a visit. (Which will probably destroy my romantic image of the place!). An inventory was done and recorded in a book 'where no shadows fall' which is in the local records office. I have a transcript somewhere and will look up later (after the rugby - aren't laptops great!).

The cemetery gets very overgrown in the summer as these pictures show
http://picasaweb.google.com/Cath53/StainlandAndWalkerGraves

Ken

Beware of TOO romantic an image, Ken. The M62 lurks in the area! However, if you plan to visit Stainland then your spectacles will not require tinting. Elland and Halifax have an urban appeal. Rugby League I hope--Bulls v. Giants on my crystal set.
Phil.

A very belated update and another problem

We visited Stainland in April and I can confirm efforts had been made to clear up the Wesleyan Cemetery and David Shepherd is still there, and, it appears remembered (Spud I have a photo if interested).
I attempted to contact Southgate Methodist Church to view the original memorial and that for the Methodist Chapel (which UKNIWM list as 2701 & 2702) but without success in the limited time we were there.
We saw the memorial cricket ground and the plaque in the Anglican Church.

An American family history contact saw the original post and detailed her difficulties with UKNIWM, she told me neither memorial was at the Elland Church (logically why would Methodists have a Congregational memorial?) and she tells me she has been in contact with someone who had both memorials in their garage and was (apparently) desperate to find somewhere more appropriate to display them (one church is now flats and the other demolished).

Unfortunately I'm in Eastbourne and wonder if Phil or any other Forum Pals in the West Riding could make some further enquiries, perhaps in the local press. I know it's a big ask but as recent threads have shown the forum usually gets results.

Regards
Ken

Ken,

My current daily route takes me to Mirfield, and therefore a few miles from the Stainland area. After trying several times to contact the Rev. Gee, I gave up I'm afraid. There may well be other Forum members who can do a lot better than my feeble effort, but if you do find a specific place to visit, or some more information, I can do a little detour.

Phil.

Depending on the exact circumstances of ownership I might possibly be able to help with relation to the displaying of the memorials in an appropriate setting. I have a couple of "non-anglican" contacts I can approach, and as I am north of Leeds this isn't a great distance to cover either.
If someone would care to PM me with any more info I will see what I can do to help.
Regards
Matt Gibbs

Phil, thanks for trying, and if I ever find them Matt I'll be in touch. I guess the local community made what they thought was the most appropriate decision at the time and went for grass rather than granite but I wondered if anyone local had a view.

Ken