Charles John Alexander Cowan
Location:
St James the Less
Broomhill Road, Penicuik
Midlothian
EH26 9EE
Details on cross:
Tag at top of shaft – I.W.G.C.
Three lines of metal tags:
CAPT. COWAN.
12/R. SCOTS.
25.3.18.
Text type: GRU metal tags
Cross dimensions (millimetres please)
Shaft Height: 880
Cross beam width: 410
Width of wood: 65
Thickness or depth: 27
Other information
Mounting to wall: Nailed to the wall
Detailing: None/plain wood
Evidence of use in field (earth marking, cracking, staining, shrinkage): Shows evidence of being in the ground
Surface insertion depth (into ground if apparent): 150
Finish (varnish, paint, oiled, unfinished etc): Plain softwood, weathered.
Condition (cracked, paint peeling, woodwork, damage etc): Fair condition, not damaged, just aged.
Other information, notes and observations:
There is a stained glass window above the cross dedicated to the memory of Captain Charles John Alexander Cowan 3rd battalion, 12th Royal Scots who died of wounds in France on the 15th March 1918 aged 25. He was born at Moray House, Edinburgh the eldest son of Alexander and Alice Buchanan Cowan of Valleyfield, Penicuik. He is buried at Cerisy-Gailly Military Cemetery on the Somme.
The stained glass window was designed by Mrs Meredith Williams and shows St John the Evangelist holding a chalice, above his symbol of the eagle. The window was dedicated in 1920.
(Source Remember Them – St James the Less compiled by Georgina Phillips).
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1. The Church of St James the Less in Penicuik also features an eight panel. The Reredos is a triptych moulded in clay & painted in muted colours, depicting the Resurrection with the side wings showing groups of servicemen. Designed by Mrs Meredith Williams & dedicated in May 1921. There is no brass panel, rather a carved oak tablet lists the fallen, again designed by Mrs Williams, & dedicated in 1924.
2. There is a dedication to Maud Alice Clerk, a nurse who died in a military hospital in Italy on August 17th 1918.
3. Another dedication and stained glass window in memory of Beauchamp Clerk, Captain 82nd Punjabis who fell at Neuve Chapelle on 11th March 1915.
Survey and photographs courtesy of Scott Galloway
Date of survey: 6th September 2016
