Researching Barnsley War Memorials

That sounds easy doesn't it ... but so far this morning I've found at least four different websites with links to pictures and information on Barnsley related war memorials.  There's the Barnsley section of the Public Art Research project, there's a site which lists information about Second World War Memorials of Barnsley which of course includes pictures of WW1 memorials more often than not as the WW2 names were often just added to the existing memorial.  There's War Memorials Online, which includes a few Barnsley memorials, you can search a map to see what's been added for the area.  Unfortunately someone had put a memorial at Wentworth in the middle of Barnsley ... so I've moved it to the correct location.  Finally I found a whole page dedicated to Hoyland War Memorial, very complete, with information on each name listed.

The Roll of Honour website, Yorkshire section, does not contain any listings for South Yorkshire, other than the Boer War memorial at Wombwell.

Here are some of the pictures that I've found so far displayed on a Pinterest board.



There are a couple of folders in Barnsley Archives with detailed information about three war memorials, including Hoyland.  I also spoke to a lady who has researched the memorial at Jump, near Hemingfield.  I've started going through the digitised Barnsley Chronicle to get an overview of the early 1920s when most war memorials were planned and erected to see how popular a movement it was.  So far there seem to have been some conflicting views in the Barnsley area, some people wanted to build community halls, or dedicate a cottage hospital for example rather than building a stone monument.

I would dearly love to pull all this together, as Sheffield has done, with one source of reference for all Barnsley War Memorials ...

This could take some time.


Updated 25 September 2013
As I have been reminded, there is also the Imperial War Museum's War Memorial Archive.  This can be searched by place, but of course in Barnsley there are lots of little villages, many of which are listed on this site by their own name rather than by the collective, Barnsley.  This makes it very hard to make sure you haven't missed one that has been submitted!

Plus many churches contain individual memorials to men lost in war.  For example in Cudworth there is a cross or crucifix dedicated to a man lost in WW1 and several windows dedicated to men lost in WW2.  Only sustained legwork will track all of this kind of small memorial down.