Silsden's Old Cenotaph Site
- David Mason
- 4 days ago
- 3 min read
In the autumn of 2018, the Local History Group erected a plaque commemorating the original site of the town’s Cenotaph. Silsden’s War Memorial is now positioned in the Memorial Gardens. It is a plain, stone column, engraved with the names of the fallen. It is graceful in its simplicity, raised up on a low plinth and modestly edged with a simple chain.
When it was unveiled in 1921, it stood close to the roadside at the bottom of Bolton Road next to the bridge over Bradley Beck. It was positioned within a three-sided enclosure, which was edged by a stone wall with substantial railing above. This original walling with its metal railing exists to this day. The Civic Society – now disbanded – placed two benches at the old site years after the cenotaph was moved.
The Local History Group – with the help of grants from the Harry Tillotson Trust and the Co-operative Society – renovated the original site. The railings and the benches were repainted. The unattractive concrete paving slab, which had once filled the exposed footprint left exposed when the memorial and its plinth had been taken away, was replaced with flagstones. The centrepiece of the new flagged floor is now a carving of a poppy with the words ‘Lest We Forget’. At the same time as the site was renovated, Silsden’s ‘Friends of Green Places’ placed planters there, which they have attractively filled with bulbs and small trees.
If we were able to go back to the day that the memorial was unveiled on Saturday, 12th November 1921, we would see an official group reverently assembled for the opening service. We would also observe fifteen children, whose fathers had been killed in the Great War. Each of the fifteen children would be holding a silken cord attached to a laurel wreath, and on a signal, we would see them pull together, allowing the wreath to be lowered and the covering withdrawn, unveiling the new Cenotaph. We would be part of a very solemn occasion, as the onlookers would each be lost in their own memories.
Standing alongside the children on the day it was unveiled was Miss Hannah Faulkner, aged 25. Hannah was the sister of five brothers, who all went to fight. Three of them had died at the front, and a fourth, Tommy, the eldest, twice wounded, gassed and shell-shocked, was then incarcerated in Menston Asylum, where he eventually died. Her fifth brother, William, was too young to fight. He had managed to enlist, but had been sent home wounded. The moment would have been very poignant for Hannah.
As traffic increased in the middle of the 20th Century, the position of the cenotaph became increasingly unsuitable, and it was eventually moved across the road into the Memorial Gardens in 1957, to be in a more peaceful and spacious setting. The annual Remembrance service is still a time of thoughtful reflection on what we owe the brave men of Silsden who went to fight for their country.
Silsden Local History Group
Silsden Local History Group hold the town's archive at Silsden Town Hall. In collaboration with them, we are developing a display of art works and information boards to celebrate Silsden's heritage. The exhibition of art works and museum artifacts can be viewed when the Town Hall is open. It is always open during the hours when the library is open (10am to 4pm on week days and Saturday mornings). The exhibition on nails and nail makers is now finished and has been removed, with a new exhibition illustrating Silsden's textile industry in its place. It includes the Silsden Tapestry taking centre stage on the ground floor wall in pride of place.
Join Silsden Local History Group for History Research and Access to the Town Archive on select days at Silsden Town Hall.
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