Memorials & Monuments
on the Isle of Wight
- Whitwell -
- SS Mary & Rhadegund Church Chancel Memorials -

Next Thursday, November 1st, at 3.30, the oak screen which has been placed in Whitwell Church to the memory of local and other soldiers who have fallen in the war will be dedicated. The Rev. Hon. Ivo Fiennes, Rector of Yaverland, will preach. We understand that the stone statue of Joan of Arc, which has been given in memory of the Entente Cordiale, will be unveiled at the same time.

Yesterday (All Saints' Day), a large congregation attended the Church of St. Mary and St. Rhadegund, Whitwell, when several memorials to those who have fallen in the war were impressively dedicated. The new rood chancel screen with its tracery and carved cresting forms an exceedingly beautiful enrichment to the Church. It is provided as a memorial to Whitwell men who have fallen in the war, whose names will subsequently be placed on a tablet. The screen is in memory of: Ronald McDougall, George Chick, Percy Reed (*), Wm. Alfred Roach (**), Alfred Attrill, William Trowbridge, Francis Russell, and Jim Wheeler. The Calvary, which surmounts it, is a memorial to Lieut. J.S. Hearn, son of Mr. Hearn, formerly of Niton Farm, but now of Wroxall. The cost of this exquisitely designed and executed group has been defrayed by Lieut. Hearn's relatives and friends. The five figures of saints on the screen itself are separate memorials to others who have fallen, among them being Captain Stephen Usher and Captain Beverley Usher, sons of the Rev. Richard Usher, Vicar of Westbury, Brackley, and formerly Priest-in-Charge of St. Margaret's and St. Alban's Churches, Upper Ventnor. The five saints are as follows: St. Martin, of Tours, in memory of Lieutenant Elderton, of the Warwicks, who was formerly stationed at Ventnor, given by Miss Maddock, Vinicombe, Ventnor; St. Oswald, of Northumbria, in memory of Captain Howell, given by his cousin, Miss Malcolm Kerr; St. Rhadegund, in memory of Captain Beverley Usher, and St. Edmund, in memory of Captain Stephen Usher, both given by Miss Maddock; St. George of England, in memory of Lieut. Gurth Morse, given by Miss Maddock, his aunt. The gates to the chancel are of the gift of Mrs. Burnham, in memory of her husband. The screen to St. Mary's chancel, which is not yet completed, is a separate memorial not connected with the war. The statue of Joan of Arc, which stands between the two screens, commemorates the Grand Alliance of French and British fighting together in the great war. It is the gift of Miss Maddock. The interior of the Church has been completely transformed by these beautiful objects. – The clergy present at the dedicatory service were the Rev. J.C. Orr (Vicar), Rev. B.H.P. Smith (St. Alban's, Ventnor), and the Hon. Rev. Ivo Fiennes (Rector of Yaverland). The service was conducted by the Vicar, who subsequently dedicated the various memorials. After the statue of Joan of Arc had been dedicated, a hymn was sung, the following being the first verse: -
Hail! Patroness of France endued
With more than female fortitude,
Who by enduring torture sore
Pourtayest that which Jesus bore.
An appropriate sermon was afterwards delivered by the Hon. Rev. Ivo Fiennes, and the impressive proceedings closed with a procession with incense. A good number of Ventnor people attended the ceremony. Mr. Percy Stone was the architect for the screen. Mr. Nicholls carved the figures, and Mr. Gawthorpe was responsible for the brass.

The beauties of the pretty church at Whitwell have been greatly enhanced by the new screen and other embellishments which were dedicated last week. The screen is a work of art, alike in its design and execution. The cost - about £230 - has been defrayed by relatives of those to whom the screen is a memorial. The money for the Lady Chapel Screen, which is to be a private memorial, is in hand, and the work will be begun at once. It is intended to add new stalls for the Clergy and Choir.