WELCOME TO IMMANUEL
AT THE HEART OF THE FENISCOWLES AND PLEASINGTON COMMUNITY
CPL EDGAR HAYDOCK
A New Birdbath for the Church Garden in memory of
Cpl Edgar Haydock
(KIA, 1.7.1916),
11 East Lancs Btn 15283
On Monday August 4th 2014, 2pm a commemoration of a new Birdbath for the Church Garden in memory of Cpl Edgar Haydock, who is remembered on our Church Cenotaph was held in the presence of his two nephews and Niece, Mr Malcolm Haydock , Mr Edgar Haydock and Mrs Pat Haydock and the Mayor of Blackburn with Darwen, Clr Allan Cottam Cpl Edgar Haydock lived at Springview, Pleasington. His two surviving nephews and niece are Mr Malcolm and Mr Edgar Haydock and Ms Pat Haydock, the family owned and managed the old Eclipse Mill in Feniscowles.
​
​
Cpl Haydock, army number 15283, listed a Killed In Action (KIA), was a member of the 11th Btn East Lancashire Regt, commonly known as the 'Accrington Pals'. He died on 1st July 1916 aged 24yrs along with 300 others of his regiment, along with another 300 badly injured, in the assault on Cerres Fortress as part of the first day of the Battle of the Somme, almost certainly between 6:40am and 8am, when the fighting finished and is buried at Thiepvall war cemetery nearby.
​
​We have dedicated a birdbath in his memory given by his two nephews and niece(whose father and another uncle also served in the war but survived) who have donated £100 to buy and install the memorial, ie £1 for each year since the outbreak of the war. The dedication took place on Monday 4th August 2014 ( the centenary of Britain joining the war) at 2pm in Immanuel Churchyard. We are grateful to Immanuel parishioner Peter Dobson for playing the Last Post.
On 1 July 1916, the first day of the Battle of the Somme, 720 men of the Accrington Pals went into the attack at Cerre. By day’s end 584 were listed as killed, wounded or missing. Most of the action had ceased by 8am
The Following Article appeared in the August 5 edition of The Lancashire Telegraph and may be accessed from their archive
A COMMEMORATION service took place in memory of a Blackburn man killed in World War One.
Immanuel Church in Feniscowles hosted the event to remember Corporal Edgar Haydock who was killed in action on the first day of the Battle of the Somme.
​
The 24-year-old, who lived in Springmount, Pleasington, was a member of the 11th Battalion East Lancashire Regiment, known as the Accrington Pals. He died with 600 others from his regiment in the assault on Cerres Fortress and is buried at Thiepvall War Cemetery nearby.
​
The ceremony, in which a bird bath was dedicated to him, was attended by his two nephews Malcolm and Edgar and niece Pat.Mayor of Blackburn, Coun Allan Cottam, also attended the event which saw the names on the church’s cenotaph read out.
The relatives donated £100, £1 for each year since the outbreak of the war, to buy and install the birdbath. Malcolm, 85, who lives in Mellor Brook, said: “This was such a special event for all of us.“It’s great that so many people attended and the whole thing was absolutely fine. It was a very special occasion for us and I’d like to say thank you to everyone who came.”
Rev David Roscoe, who led the ceremony, said: “The family approached us with the view to providing a feature for our church garden in memory of their uncle.
​
“We came up with the idea of a bird bath because for one we had not got a birdbath for our garden but secondly we thought that it was a fitting tribute to the freedom and joy and peace that it symbolises with the birds in the water.
“During the ceremony we remembered Edgar, blessed the birdbath and also remembered all those from this community who are on our church cenotaph as we remembered this important occasion in the life of our country and rededicated ourselves to the freedom and peace for which these soldiers fought and died.
