Lieut. W.E.Hamblin – Very unusual stone cross

Location: Forres Cemetery, Cluny Hill, Canmore, Moray


Details on cross:

The wording at the base of the original cross is ‘KILLED IN ACTION MAY 24th 1916’

Inscription on the 1925 base  ‘ERECTED BY HIS BROTHER OFFICER [sic] IN THE QUATRE VENT [sic] CEMETERY FRANCE’

almost sunken out of sight  ‘TRANSFERRED HERE IN 1925’.

Text type (e.g. hand-written, GRU tags, carved): Engraved

Cross dimensions (millimetres please)
Shaft Height: 810mm

Cross beam width: 500mm

Width of wood:

Thickness or depth: 150mm

Other information
Mounting to wall: Original stone cross mounted on to a stone base in 1925

Condition (cracked, paint peeling, woodwork, damage etc):

It looks like the ‘S’ of ‘OFFICERS’ may have disappeared as the corner of the stone is missing. The cross appears to be made from quite a soft sandstone  / limestone material, such as is commonally used in buildings in Northern France and it has started to errode and pieces have flaked off. It is also discoloured by black lichen and the base area has some moss growing into the stone. The 1925 base is most likely made from Morayshire sandstone as that is quarried only a few miles from the cemetery.

Notes and observations:

The cemetery in France is ‘Quatre-Vents Military Cemetery’.


Survey and photographs courtesy of Derek Bird, 14th July 2017