In November 2018 the village of Stannington will be holding a four-day event to commemorate 100 years since the end of WW1. The project which has been funded by the Heritage Lottery is designed to educate and inform all parts of Stannington Parish and the wider community about the experiences of Stannington residents, and that of the Parish service personnel in the First World War.
The project has turned up many interesting facts. It has been discovered that a tradition used to exist, whereby the children of the Stannington Village School received a gift from Lady Ridley every year around Christmas. The girls received a red cloak, and the boys a red scarf. Records show that the first mention of the Stannington red cloaks and scarves, was in March 1885. Lady Ridley, who later became the 1st Viscountess, instigated the presentation, which became a distinguishing and conspicuous feature of the children of Stannington School. The tradition was continued by the 2nd Viscountess Ridley, and appears in the school log throughout the years of the First World War.
The cloaks and scarves were worn on special occasions such as Harvest Festival and Christmas services in the church. They were also worn at Viscountess Ridley’s funeral.
The tradition only ended in 1924 when the 3rd Viscountess Ridley, discovered that the cloaks were being issued so often “they were being made into rag rugs”. She also thought they smacked too much of “charity and institutionalism”. It was recently discovered that an original cloak still existed, and was in the possession of Stannington resident Doreen Robson. The cloak had belonged to Ella Brewis, a relative of Doreen and had been issued in the first few years of the 20th century.
The cloaks were produced by Pryce Pryce-Jones, who was born in 1834 in Newtown, Wales. He became an apprentice to a local draper, took over the business and in 1859 started trading under his own name. In 1861 he took advantage of the national postage service and began the first ever mail order business.
During the 1870s Pryce-Jones took part in exhibitions all over the world, winning several medals and becoming world famous. In 1879 he opened the Royal Welsh Warehouse and expanded his sales of flannel and clothes way beyond Newtown. In the 1880s his patrons included the royal houses of Austria, Britain, Denmark, Germany, Hanover, Italy, Naples and Russia. At the Jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1887 he was knighted as Sir Pryce Pryce-Jones.
It has now also been discovered that the red scarves were also issued to the boys of Netherton Training School, at the same time of year. This event was recorded in the Superintendent’s Log Book. Sadly, no original scarf survives, though the design was possibly the same red colour of the cloaks with grey bands at the ends similar to the Pryce-Jones sample below.
The Heritage Lottery has funded thirty six cloaks to be reproduced with each cloak being individually named to honour a man from the Parish who lost his life in the war. The school will then use these for special events in the future. The Stannington Parish Centenary Festival of Remembrance opens on Thursday 8th November with a spectacular flower festival in St Marys Church this will be followed on Friday 9th November by a re-enactment of the victory parade held by the school children in 1918 with the girls marching proudly around the village wearing their red cloaks, the boys wearing their red scarves and will be followed by a peace tea held in the Village Hall.
You will also have an opportunity to see the children wearing the red cloaks and scarves again on Saturday 10th November when the Village will feature a WW1 living experience where “Frank” a WW1 replica tank ( as featured in the films Wonder Woman & Transformers The last Knight) alongside Ridley’s Aeroplane the Morane Type N “Bullet” monoplane ( courtesy of North East Air Museum) will be on display along with other re-enactment troops to act as a fantastic educational attraction for children and WW1 enthusiasts alike. The event concludes on Sunday 11th November where the children will attend St Mary’s Church Stannington for a special Remembrance service. If anyone reading this article has any photographs of the children wearing the red cloaks and scarves we would be most grateful to see them.
