Day 96. The Railing Stumps

 Several tombs in Preston's churchyard, generally those belonging to wealthier landowners, were once surrounded with iron railings. 

 

            Preston School was also once fronted with railings.

 

This is another relic of the Second World War. Britain was in desperate need of metal to make tanks, bullets and other armaments, and  a nationwide collection of all ironwork deemed unnecessary was instigated. This was all melted down for the war effort. A similar drive had taken place during the First World War –  the tracks of the obsolete tramway (see Day 17) were removed around 1914  – and now  the government officials returned with a more critical eye.

No scrap of metal was deemed too small. All the railings surrounding the graves in the churchyard were appropriated for the war effort, as were those outside the village school. They were never replaced. Just the forlorn stumps remain embedded in the stonework today.