Crockham Hill Memorial, Westerham, Kent
A memorial to the staff and children of Weald House killed in June 1944 when a German Doodlebug Flying Bomb hit the building.
In June 1944the evacuation of children under 16 from London begun due to the number being injured & killed by the increasing frequency of German V1 Flying Bombs hitting the capital & suburbs.
The worst single incident resulting in the deaths of young children was that at Crockham Hill near Westerham, Kent, that are commemorated on the memorial above. In 1944,
Little Mariners at Froghole, Crockham Hill, was being used by the London County Council as a home for evacuated children, but Little Mariners was severely damaged by incendiary bombs, and the staff and children were then moved to Weald House (now rebuilt and called Hoplands) which is situated on the edge of Crockham Hill Common. At 0337 hours on Friday 30 June1944, a German V1 flying bomb was hit by anti-aircraft fire from a battery situated on the North Downs, and had been badly damaged before it could reach its intended target of London. In theory the flying bomb should have either exploded when hit, or landed somewhere in the miles of open fields with no loss of life, but for some reason on its final descent it was thought to have been carried along on warm air thermals, and when crashing at Mariners Hill it had struck a tree which then deflected into Weald House. Twenty-two children and eight female staff were killed in the tragedy.
The Downsview Monumental Co. collaborated with Alex Jones Funeral Directors (Oxted) & the Westerham Town Council to bring this project to completion.
The project was funded entirely by contributions form the local community and Westerham Town Council.
View the video showing how the memorial was created
from raw Welsh slate to installation
From concept to completion took over two years with craftsmen from the Downsview Monumental Co. being involved alsongside Alex Jones Funeral Directors from early in the project.
Creation of the memorial took over three months - the entire enscription was hand-cut by one craftsman.
Hand cutting letters into harder stones such as slate & granite takes years of experience to master