Memorials: Miners' Memorial, Conisbrough
Artist: Graham IBBESON

Artist:	APPLEBY, Jeremy
TitleOfWork:	‘Huskar Pit Memorial 2’
DateOfWork:	1988
Dimensions:	Height: up to 140 cm; Length: 9 m
Medium:	sandstone; concrete
Location:	Silkstone Common, S. Yorkshire
Country:	UK - England
Photographer:	Dave Ball
ImageCopyright:	Sheffield Hallam University
AccessionNumber:	b012d
FileSize:	342366
Location: In Nether Royd Wood to the side of Moor End Lane Description: A small retaining wall has been set into a bank above a stream. Two 'tunnels' have been set into the wall, in each one there is a crouching figure. One is a young boy, the other a young girl. Both could be crawling. The boy has a cloth cap, the girl a shawl knotted around her neck. A ventilation door has been carved out of stone to the right of the tunnels; on this is an inscription. The maximum height of the wall is 140 cm and its length is 9 m. The boy is 54 cm high; 40 cm wide and 80 cm deep. The girl is 56 cm high; 35 cm wide and 80 cm deep. The piece is in good repair, although the head of boy appears to be from a separate piece of stone. The wall itself is in need of some attention in the centre at its top. Between the hands of each figure is a small wooden cross, similar to that seen at war memorials after Armistice day. Instead of a red poppy these have a small black piece of coal on them. This is a more recent addition. Inscriptions: On a large slab of stone carved to look like an airdoor in the pit, similar to that against which the children were trapped and drowned: " THIS MONUMENT WAS ERECTED / BY THE PEOPLE OF SILKSTONE PARISH / IN 1988 / TO MARK THE 150TH. ANNIVERSARY / OF THE TRAGIC EVENT ON / 4TH. JULY 1838, / WHEN 26 CHILDREN WERE DROWNED / IN THE HUSKAR PIT CLOSE TO THIS PLACE. " Commission: 'The People of Silkstone Parish' to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the disaster. Officially opened Sunday 10 July 1988 by Rev D Birch, Vicar of Silkstone, members of the Silkstone Heritage Stones Group and local parishioners. Old Silkstone Brass Band played at the ceremony. Comment: The figures had been made at the Conservation Workshop; a project that ran for a while in Barnsley. Julian Appleby of the Workshop made preparaotry drawings and constructed life-size maquettes from polystyrene and plaster. This were substituted for the stone carving for the opening ceremony which was widely reported in local and National newspapers. He subsequently began to carve the figures, but was unfortunately made redundant before they could be completed. [1] Tony Slater, a sculptor resident in Silkstone then completed the carving and sited them. [2] The figures were stolen some years after installation and discovered by chance a year later in an empty warehouse. They have now been permanently secured in place. References: [1] Letter from Julian Appleby: 11/4/2004 [2] Interview with Tony Slater: 11/3/2003