History of Christ Church Fairwarp- Fairwarp parish and the Great War

In July 2023, the FADLHS held a talk on Christ Church, our village church,

presented by Fr John Caperon.

At the outbreak of the war which was to become known as ‘the Great War’ – until of course a further, great ‘world’ war took place between 1939 and 1945 – the vicar of Fairwarp was The Revd George Whelpton Johnson.  Mr Johnson had been appointed in 1906, and had ministered during the golden Edwardian period, but had also – as the last episode revealed – had to bury far too many children in those years.  He was now to be faced with comforting the bereaved during four years in which ‘half the seed of Europe’, as the poet Wilfred Owen said, were slaughtered on the battlefields.

‘Your Country Needs You’.  On August 4^th 1914, Britain had

declared war on Germany; between that date and 12^th September 1914, just five weeks, nearly half a million men had ‘joined up’ voluntarily, many no doubt in response to Field-Marshall Kitchener’s appeal.  Before conscription was introduced in January 1916, some two and a half million men had enlisted.  In a period of intense patriotism, ‘joining up’ became a mass movement.  Fairwarp’s contribution – the men from here who served – numbered 158, including twenty-six who gave their lives: a sixth of those who served died.  All their names are recorded on the board on the South wall of Christ Church.  From a tiny community, this was a huge proportion of adult males; and across all the communities of the country, the same was true. 

The Service Board in Christ Church

The service board bears examination.  For each name hides a narrative: of lucky survival, of trauma, of a dreadful or gallant death.  The board’s donor, Mr A H Wood, gave it in memory of his son, Lt Colonel Donald Wood, who typified the gallant death.  Col Wood died on 1^st July 1916, one of almost 60,000 British casualties on the first day of the battle of the Somme: he was doubtless leading his men towards the machine guns of the German front line.  The narratives of the other twenty-five who gave their lives are less evident; but all can be researched through the website of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (www.cwgc.org).

We can only imagine the way the village survived without its men during the war years.  We can guess, though, that men on leave from their units felt unable to share with their families most of the horrors of the front line.  Somehow, ‘normal’ life had to continue: as children grew and developed, the school provided education, and services continued in Christ

Church Sunday by Sunday.  But the sound of the guns on the Western Front in France was often distinctly audible.

Throughout the war, Mr Johnson continued to minister as vicar; but it was perhaps no surprise that he resigned the living in 1918.  He’d been warmly appreciated in the village and church community, and this is indicated by the fact that the new organ, installed in 1922, was dedicated to his memory.  Some years later his memory was still alive: in 1930 a stained-glass ‘Good Shepherd’ window was installed in the South wall of Christ Church in memory of both Mr and Mrs Johnson: they’d been vital to the wellbeing of the community in those dire War years.   

In 1919 the Versailles Treaty was signed, formally bringing the Great War to an end, though sowing the seeds of the subsequent conflict of 1939-45. 

On Peace Day, 19^th July 1919, Fairwarp – doubtless like many other communities – planted its own ‘Peace Tree’.  That tree is now lost; but in a gesture of remembrance and hope, a new Peace Tree was planted at the entrance of the village on the centenary, 19^th July 2019.

Above : The Peace Tree planted in 2019.

The village’s own War Memorial opposite was sited in the churchyard; new steps were provided for the centenary year 2018, when the name of Aaron Russell was also added: it had been omitted probably because the Russell family was itinerant, Helen Rowland’s researches indicate.

Annual commemorations of the 1918 Armistice still take place at the War Memorial each year at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, the hour at which hostilities ceased.