News / St Michael's Hill
Memorial panels rediscovered, restored and rededicated
At the top of St Michael’s Hill once stood the headquarters of the 6th Battalion of the Gloucestershire Regiment.
Six wooden panels remembering the 842 soldiers from the battalion who were killed in the First World War used to be on display here before being moved to nearby St Michael on the Mount Without Church when the headquarters (now the site of St Michael’s Hospital) was bombed in the Second World War.
The panels survived a major fire in the church and in 2019 were rediscovered by two historians, Clive Burlton and Jeremy Banning, packed up in a crate near the altar.
After being restored by the team at Clivedon Conservation and hung in the crypt of what is now The Mount Without, they have now been rededicated by the archdeacon of Bristol, Neil Warwick, at a moving ceremony.
Listen to Clive Burlton on the latest episode of the Bristol24/7 Behind the Headlines podcast:
The ceremony was attended by relatives of six men whose names are on the panels as well as relatives of two more men who served in the 6th Battalion of the Glosters and survived the war.
Children from neighbouring Willow Park Primary School laid a wreath in front of a brass tablet also remembering the battalion, with the Last Post played by rifleman Daniel Kemp, a bugler from The Rifles.
The front of 6th Battalion HQ at the top of St Michael’s Hill showing soldiers, civilians and horses – photo: Bristol Archives
Jeremy and Clive are currently working on the mammoth task of providing biographical information on every one of the 842 men commemorated on the panels, with details of some of the men already on information boards in the crypt.
Talking at the rededication ceremony, Jeremy said: “Bristol must have been reeling as each name on those panels meant loved ones bereft, grieving the loss of their husband, sweetheart, father, son or brother.
“Each and every man commemorated here did their bit. And that is all anyone can do.
“Clive and I hope their story becomes better known across the city. After all, these men represented Bristol and the Gloucestershire Regiment.
“In the past, Bristol has honoured their sacrifice. We sincerely hope that by having the memorial displayed once more, Bristol can do so again.”
A stained glass window remembering the 6th Glosters, designed by Edward Croney of Messrs Croney and Christmas based on Portland Square in St Paul’s, is located in the former church above the crypt – photo: Martin Booth
Main photo: Martin Booth
Read more: Mount Without hosting exhibition of photos of an extraordinary school year
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