The Tower War Memorial Crich Derbyshire 090712 (15)
www.crich-memorial.org.uk/history.html
The summit of Crich Hill is reputed to have been the site of a Beacon Fire, which signalled the sighting of the Spanish Armada in the English Channel in 1588. It is believed that after the thrashing the Spanish received from Drake, his ships and the good old English weather, it was again used to celebrate the victory. In 1988 this most famous naval victory was again celebrated on its 400th anniversary with a new Beacon Post and Brazier being built and in 2002 it was again rebuilt as a cairn and brazier to commemorate HM The Queen's Golden Jubilee.
In 1734 there were a number of small lime kilns on the Hill and the public footpath which runs across the Hill to Crich is believed to have been used by Salt Merchants who packed the salt on horses or mules, transporting it southwards from the Cheshire area.
THE TOWER
The first record of any tower type structure is during the reign of King George III (1760) when a wooden tower was erected to provide both a landmark and a place from which to take in some of the best views available. It is thought that this tower was erected to mark his accession to the Throne. Owing to its wooden construction in such an exposed area, it only lasted about 25 years before being demolished. In 1788, Francis Hurt paid the princely sum of 210 to have a conical limestone tower with a wooden top constructed on the site of the old tower. By about 1843 the conical tower was in such a poor state of repair that a decision was taken to rebuild and in 1849 some of the stones of this conical tower were used to build the base of the new circular tower that was built from grit stone.
The circular tower was opened in 1851 (the year of the Great Exhibition) and it had a stone stairway winding up inside. An engraved tablet set in the wall at the top showed that the tower was 955 feet above sea level.
It could be said that this tower was the forerunner of The Sherwood Foresters Memorial. In June 1856 it was the scene of a jubilant crowd celebrating the end of the Crimean War (1854-56) and Sergeant Wetton of the 95th Derbyshire Regiment, a resident of Crich, was carried to the top of the Hill in a specially adapted chair as he had lost a leg at the Battle of the Alma (20th September 1854). There is no doubt that he would have been happy that the war was over, but it is certain that he would have remembered his Regimental Family and the comrades who never came home. In 1881 the 95th Derbyshire Regiment joined the 45th Nottinghamshire Regiment to form The Sherwood Foresters.
In June of 1882 there was a major landslide in the area of the quarry and this had a serious subsidence effect on the tower, lightning strikes and further minor movements of the ground in the immediate area resulted in the closing of the tower to the public for reasons of safety.
The Tower War Memorial Crich Derbyshire 090712 (15)
www.crich-memorial.org.uk/history.html
The summit of Crich Hill is reputed to have been the site of a Beacon Fire, which signalled the sighting of the Spanish Armada in the English Channel in 1588. It is believed that after the thrashing the Spanish received from Drake, his ships and the good old English weather, it was again used to celebrate the victory. In 1988 this most famous naval victory was again celebrated on its 400th anniversary with a new Beacon Post and Brazier being built and in 2002 it was again rebuilt as a cairn and brazier to commemorate HM The Queen's Golden Jubilee.
In 1734 there were a number of small lime kilns on the Hill and the public footpath which runs across the Hill to Crich is believed to have been used by Salt Merchants who packed the salt on horses or mules, transporting it southwards from the Cheshire area.
THE TOWER
The first record of any tower type structure is during the reign of King George III (1760) when a wooden tower was erected to provide both a landmark and a place from which to take in some of the best views available. It is thought that this tower was erected to mark his accession to the Throne. Owing to its wooden construction in such an exposed area, it only lasted about 25 years before being demolished. In 1788, Francis Hurt paid the princely sum of 210 to have a conical limestone tower with a wooden top constructed on the site of the old tower. By about 1843 the conical tower was in such a poor state of repair that a decision was taken to rebuild and in 1849 some of the stones of this conical tower were used to build the base of the new circular tower that was built from grit stone.
The circular tower was opened in 1851 (the year of the Great Exhibition) and it had a stone stairway winding up inside. An engraved tablet set in the wall at the top showed that the tower was 955 feet above sea level.
It could be said that this tower was the forerunner of The Sherwood Foresters Memorial. In June 1856 it was the scene of a jubilant crowd celebrating the end of the Crimean War (1854-56) and Sergeant Wetton of the 95th Derbyshire Regiment, a resident of Crich, was carried to the top of the Hill in a specially adapted chair as he had lost a leg at the Battle of the Alma (20th September 1854). There is no doubt that he would have been happy that the war was over, but it is certain that he would have remembered his Regimental Family and the comrades who never came home. In 1881 the 95th Derbyshire Regiment joined the 45th Nottinghamshire Regiment to form The Sherwood Foresters.
In June of 1882 there was a major landslide in the area of the quarry and this had a serious subsidence effect on the tower, lightning strikes and further minor movements of the ground in the immediate area resulted in the closing of the tower to the public for reasons of safety.