'Stories from the Stones'
Please visit the Contents Page for this section, where you will find other 'Stories from the Stones.'
These same stories are also published on Penistone Archive Group's Facebook page, their Journal and in 'The Bridge' magazine issued by St John's church, Penistone. Many thanks to their tireless author, Mr Steve Lavender, for his worthy contributions to local history and this website. - JB.
Story 11 - The Children with no Stones, 1880 - 1980, Penistone Cemetery Stottercliffe
This story is a departure from the usual style and is inspired by a post in the Penistone Archive Group from my friend Richard Galliford. Such is the emotive power of this story and what we have learnt from it – I would like to add a note of caution that this review may cause sadness and distress for some. If you wish to continue reading, then please bear this in mind.
Regular readers of Stories from the Stones will know that I have been selecting gravestones from St John’s burial ground Penistone and revealing a part of the life of a particular character. Richard has been a constant support during this project, and it was that during one of our many chats this story emerged. We began to discuss how many children we had found buried in the churchyard and this led us to Richard’s own story that his sister had died stillborn in 1949 but had no stone to mark her memory.
This in turn made us think about how many other children and infants might be buried with no record in the Penistone graveyard at Stottercliffe. Today a child who dies after 24 weeks of completed pregnancy is classed as stillborn; there are also those who die in infancy and childhood. There are many supportive groups around today to help parents at this tragic time. Back when our Stottercliff graveyard opened the situation was quite different.
A child who was stillborn in 1880 would be taken from the mother, most likely wrapped in a towel or placed in a box and passed in due course to the gravedigger. He would find a plot and bury the body in an unmarked grave. The family would in most cases be unaware of the location of the child’s burial and this would add to their sense of loss during such a tragic time.
We wondered if there might be any way to find out more about what had happened in our particular graveyard fully aware that this practice would be commonplace in England during this period. Richard posted his story on the Penistone Archive Group Facebook page and was inundated with support and stories from those similarly affected.
It was shortly after this that we were contacted by Peter Shields from Barnsley who was carrying out quite detailed research into precisely this project and what he revealed was astonishing. In general terms there are over 1200 children interred in the land at Stottercliff. Of these over half have been found as recorded in the area of land to the right of the road as it climbs up the hill. The remainder are scattered around all the other plots. The burials (and some cremated remains) were placed here from 1880 through to 1980 although there may still be others we have yet to find. Peter has recorded as many of these as possible, but the exact location of the burial cannot be determined.
As a result of Richard’s post receiving so much attention a small group met at the Cemetery and presented an idea to create an area of reflection for all to remember in their own way. We are now trying to raise money for a permanent memorial which will sit within the main area of child burials. If there is enough local support, then this will provide for a meaningful memorial for all those who have suffered the heartbreak of the loss of a child.
As has been the case with the stories so far we had no idea what we might learn from our research. This story is particularly sad and means just as much to people today as it must have back over 100 years ago. I hope you might take the time to support this cause so that maybe in a year’s time I can return to this story and make an amendment that this is indeed a story for the children who do now have their stone.
We will remember them.
My thanks to Richard Galliford and Peter Shields and to Penistone Archive Group and all those who are supporting this project in whatever way they can.
Steve Lavender, Chair, Friends of St John’s Church Penistone, October 2021.
Addendum - The Memorial Completed
After the 'Story from the Stones 11' above had arrived on this website and elsewhere, sufficient funds were raised and the installation work could commence in an area at the bottom of the cemetery, just where the road begins its climb. This was approximately where the little bodies had been buried.
The ground was cleared and a granite memorial stone mounted on its plinth. To each side have been fitted solid bench seats, as in this (clickable) picture, as an area for people to sit and reflect upon the many forgotten lives, at last memorialised. A tarmacked area was added some time after the inauguration. The memorial features are of granite and should last for many years to come.
The Unveiling Ceremony
The memorial was inaugurated in a small but dignified unveiling ceremony in the pouring rain at 11am, Tuesday 15th November 2022. This picture shows Richard Galliford and BMBC Cllr Hannah Kitchin doing the honours after giving their speeches, with Father David Hopkin's contribution in the form of a prayer.
In spite of the cold and wet conditions of the day, a good turnout of perhaps 30 people supported the event in a sea of umbrellas. Their number also included the current Penistone Mayor, Cllr Neville Shiggins in his Chain of Office, Stephen Lavender, and Cllr Jonathan Cutts.
The Memorial Inscription
'Found and never forgotten. The 1,000 and more children who were lost and lay unmarked in this cemetery.
'As long as the sun shines, the wind blows, the rain falls, you are now known and no longer lost'
Graveyard Records
Records for this section of unmarked plots can be found at Penistone Archive Group which is open to public on Thursdays, 10am to noon.
In general, burial records for Stottercliffe can be found at Barnsley Stairfoot Crematorium, Ardsley.
There is a little more about the turn of events leading to the new monument and details of the inauguration, memorial and inscriptions on the Penistone Cemetery page.
William Wordsworth - "The very flowers are sacred to the poor."