Remembrance Garden

Remembrance Garden. . , Remembrance is the word carved on the entrance to this Garden , , These Gardens were laid out in 1956 in Remembrance of those who died in WW2 when bombs fell here. On 16th August 1940, a small of twin-engined German bomben flew from the south, dropping bombs here, continuing northward, the bombers crossed the railway line where more bombs were dropped in Burgess Road, South View, just north of the railway line. In total, 11 people were killed that day., Before then, Church Lane, Elbow Corner and Church Square were a mix of houses. In Church Square were some large houses, home to doctors Housden and Potter and of dentist Mr Carey. Mrs Kate Wells, a dressmaker lived here as did two sisters, the Misses Poulter, who are recorded as calmly taking tea in their back room, after the front of their house had been destroyed., Church Square before the bombing , St Michael's Church, south side, already bore scars from musket balls from the English Civil War during skirmishes between Royals and Parliamentarians in the 1640s. , On that day in 1940, all but one of the church windows were blown out and the world war one Memorial Chapel, completed in 1921 was severely damaged as were two fine windows commemorating two Simmons brothers., The Methodist Church opposite the east end of St Michael's Parish Church was damaged and had to be rebuilt. The photo shows a sign (with an 'S') directing people to the nearest air raid shelter. The railings around St Michael's church are visible in this photo but they were removed soon after and given for the war effort. The Methodist Church was demolished in 1965 during town development and a plaque in the floor on the entrance to Festival Place marks the site., By 1947, St Michael's church had been repaired; the damaged world war one Memorial Chapel rebuilt, and the window dedicated to the Simmons brothers was remade. The window includes an image of the city of Jerusalem, where Frank Wortley Simmons died aged 29 on 22 November 1917 and is buried. His younger brother Paul May Simmons had died in Basra, Iraq on 24th July 1915, aged 21 and is named on the Basra memorial.