Scorton War Memorial, Snow Hill Lane, Scorton. PR3 1AU

There are 9 names from WW1 on the memorial:
William Broughton Applegarth
Private 13331. 4th Battalion Coldstream Guards
William was born in Castleton, Westmorland in 1897, the son of Joseph and Leonora Sarah Applegarth, and brother of John (below).
The family later moved to Springfield at Scorton.
William was killed in action on 17th January 1917. He was 20.
He is buried at Combles Communal Cemetery Extension, Somme France.
John Oliver Drouet Applegarth
Private 22448. 2nd Battalion Coldstream Guards
John was born in Castleton, Westmorland in 1897, the son of Joseph and Leonora Sarah Applegarth, and brother of William (above). The family later moved to Springfield at Scorton.
John was killed in action on 9th October 1918. He was 19.
He is buried at Forenville Military Cemetery, near Cambrai, France.
Arthur John Collins DSM
Wireless Telegraph Operator 411WTS. Royal Naval Reserve
Arthur was born in 1887 in Rainhill, Liverpool. The family later moved to Scorton.
On 29th June 1917 he was awarded the DSM in recognition of his service in mine-sweeping operations between the 1st July 1916, and the 31st March 1917.
He was serving on the Naval trawler HMS Kelvin on 7th July 1917 when it struck a mine and sank in the North Sea, off Aldeburgh, Suffolk.
5 crew including Arthur were lost, and their bodies never recovered. He was 30.
Arthur is remembered on the Plymouth Naval Memorial.
Matthew Iddon Till
Acting Bombardier L/10990: B Battery, 48th Brigade, Royal Field Artillery.
Matthew was born in July 1896 at Winder’s Farm, Fowler Hill, Cabus, to William and Mary Till.
In 1911 he was working as a servant (possibly a farm labourer) at Gift Hall, Winmarleigh.
It is believed that he enlisted at Preston in the early part of WW1, but the date of his arrival on the Western Front is not known.
Matthew was wounded during the second Battle of the Marne, and died of his wounds on 31st July 1918. He was 21.
He is buried at Cabaret Rouge British Cemetery, Souchez, France.
Thomas James Carter
Private 18343. 2nd Battalion Grenadier Guards
Thomas was born in Fleetwood in 1889 the son of Elizabeth Carter.
He worked as a cloth weaver and lived at at Crossey Gate Farm Barnacre.
He enlisted in Garstang
Thomas was killed in action on 9th October 1917. He was 28.
He is buried at Artillery Wood Cemetery in Belgium.
James Parker
Gunner 112947. 241 Siege Battery Royal Garrison Artillery
James was born in 1884 in Garstang, son of Robert and Jane Parker.
He married Mary Almond on February 11th 1914 at Garstang, and the couple had a son, Joseph.
Prior to joining up James worked as an estate mason in Scorton, possibly at Wyresdale Hall.
James died of wounds received in action on 15th October 1917. He was 33.
He is buried at Etaples Military Cemetery, Pas-de-Calais, France.
An inscription on his gravestone reads:
R I P
William Barclay
Lance Corporal 22737. 2nd/5th Battalion Kings Own (Royal Lancaster) Regiment
William married Annie Exton in 1915, and lived at Springfield Terrace, Scorton.
He was killed in action on 29th August 1918, during the Battle of the Scarpe – part of the 2nd Battle of Arras. He was 28.
William is one of the many men with no known grave. He is remembered on the Vis en Artois Memorial, near Arras, France.
James Swindlehurst
Private 201227. 8th Battalion Kings Own (Royal Lancaster) Regiment
James was born in 1878, the son of Robert and Alice Swindlehurst of Scorton.
He was killed in action on 12th May 1917. He was 39.
James is one of the many who have no known grave. He is remembered on the Arras Memorial, Arras, France.
Richard Chippendale
Private 37679. 13th Battalion, Kings (Liverpool) Regiment, 3rd Division
Richard was born in 1893 at Garstang, the second son of Richard and Margaret Chippendale
Richard was wounded at Arras and sent back to Westminster Military Hospital in England. He died from his wounds on 2nd June 1916. He was 24.
Richard is buried at St. Luke’s Church, Winmarleigh, and is also remembered on the Winmarleigh Memorial at the church.

There is one name on the memorial from WW2:
Reverend Peter Francis Firth. Croix de Guerre
257744 Chaplain 4th Class, Royal Army Chaplain’s Department

Peter was born in Preston on 30th June 1911, the son of barrister and former Preston town councillor Ernest Cecil Clark Firth and his wife Agnes St. John Firth.
As a priest he served St Patrick’s, Barrow-in-Furness and St Margaret Mary’s, Carlisle.
He joined the Royal Army Chaplains’ Department in February 1943 and by the time of D-Day was attached to the 8th Field Ambulance. Soldiers affectionately dubbed him ‘Friar Tuck’ due to his large stature.
He was posthumously awarded the Croix de Guerre in March 1946.
Reverend Firth was killed by a sniper during the landing on Sword Beach on 7th June 1944. He was 32.
He is buried at Hermanville War Cemetery, Calvados, France.
Also from Scorton but not named on the memorial is:
George Lowther
Bombardier 31597. 70th Battery Royal Field Artillery
George was born in 1887 in Dalton in Furness, the son of James and Agnes Lowther.
He served with the Royal Artillery from 1903 until he was transferred to the Army Reserve in 1911.
George married Ethelburga Whitham in 1913 in Garstang. At the time of his death they were living at R.C. School House, Snow Hill, Scorton.
As an Army reservist George was among the men who were called to the Colours in 1914 at the start of the war. He was a police constable, serving with Preston Borough Police.
George was killed in action on 23rd August 1914. He was 27.
He is one of many men with no known grave, and is remembered on the La Ferte Sous Jouarre Memorial in France. He is also remembered on the Preston Borough Police War Memorial which is currently located at Preston Police Station.
Among the papers kept by his widow, who never remarried are his King’s Scroll and his attestation record from 1903.


St. Peter’s Church, Snow Hill Lane, Scorton. PR3 1AY
The church was built in 1878–79 for the Ormrod family from Wyresdale Park. James Ormrod had the church built in memory of his brother, Peter who died in 1875.
The architects were Paley and Austin of Lancaster, and the church is constructed in sandstone rubble from Longridge sandstone by Jonathon Collinson of Nateby, with tiled roofs and a shingled spire. The total cost for the building was £13,000.
It was consecrated in 1879 by the Bishop of Manchester, on the vigil of St. Peter. Afterwards the Home office gave permission for the body of Peter ormrod to be exhumed from his grave at St. Helen’s, Churchtown and re-interred in the graveyard of the new church.
On the north side of the church is a lychgate dating from the same time as the church. It is constructed in oak on a sandstone base, and has a red tiled roof. The lychgate is a Grade 2 listed building.
The 150ft spire is made of cedar shingles, and the bell tower houses a peal of eight bells. The clock faces are approximately 5 feet square, and the clock strikes Westminster chimes on the quarter hour. The weather vane on the spire depicts the crossed keys of St. Peter.
There are several memorial plaques inside St. Peter’s Church:
Memorial to William Broughton Applegarth
William is also remembered on the village war memorial
Memorial to Arthur John Collins
Arthur is also remembered on the village war memorial

Roll of Honour 1914 – 1918
A Roll of those from Scorton who served

Roll of Honour 1939 – 1945
A list of those from Scorton who served
