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St
Columba
The Congregational Church in the High Street
was opened in 1904 and became the United
Reformed Church in 1972. The memorial was inside the church and was a brass plate on a
wood base, with words bordered by leaves. It was unveiled on 6
May 1921 by Rev F P Basden, a former minister of the church.
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In Grateful
Memory
of the Men Connected
with This Church
who Fell in the Great War
1914-1918
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E D Addley
S Barnard
W T Beer
S Claw
C King
E Richards
O G Tunnell |
S Allen
J T Bayley
P R Caspall
W Hinchcliffe
R H Newman
S F Scutt
J H Wyborn
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E Pain (Langdon) |
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There was a further brass
plate:
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Sacred to the memory of Cpl Percy
Robert Caspall, 222nd Brigade RFA (T) who died at
Deolali, India, May 29 1919 age 25 years. Erected by his
comrades |
The church was no longer used and undergoing
extensive alterations to become dwellings. Sadly, in September
2007, the week before the new accommodation was to be launched,
the building was almost destroyed by fire.
.
The beautiful wooden roof of the church, which had been preserved during the
renovations, was completely destroyed by the fire.
 
The memorial was taken to
the Beacon Church when St
Columba and the Tower
Hamlets Wesleyan Mission amalgamated in 2003.
Thirteen of the men are also commemorated on Dover Town
Memorial; the exceptions are W Hinchcliffe and E
Pain .
W Hinchcliffe is probably William Edward Hinchcliffe, a serjeant
in the Buffs. He died at sea on 27 November 1917, aged 30. He is
commemorated on the Hollybrook Memorial at Southampton. Born in
Dartford, he was the son of Edward Hinchcliffe and his wife
Elizabeth Susannah, née Richer. Mr Hinchcliffe, of 26 Balfour
Road, was for over nine years an engineer for Dover Harbour
Board. He died on 3 April 1915 and is buried at Buckland; his
little grandson, Harold, killed at the age of three on 20 July
1911 in a motor accident in the London Road, lies at rest there
also.
E Pain is Edward Steady Pain, G/2875, a Private in the Buffs. He
died on 26 September 1915 and is commemorated on the Loos
Memorial, panel 15 to 19.
with thanks to Tony Belsey
picture of the memorial with thanks to Jean Marsh
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