Archives » Balbirnie

Sanctuary Wood Cemetery (Lest We Forget)

Sanctuary Wood Cemetery is one of the many Imperial (later Commonwealth) War Graves Commission cemeteries that lie in the countryside around Ypres (Ieper) in Belgium.

It lies near T’Hooghe (Hooge) off the Canadalaan (Canada Lane) itself coming off the Meenseweg (the Menin Road of dreadful memory.) Buried or commemorated in the cemetery are 1,989 Commonwealth servicemen of the First World War of whom 1,348 are unidentified. For information about the cemetery see here.

I note from the link that this cemetery is the resting place (in Plot IV. D. 14) of Captain Robert Frederick Balfour, 1st Battalion Scots Guards who died on 28th October 1914, aged 31. He was the son of Edward Balfour, of “Balbirnie,” Markinch, Fife. I live a couple of hundred yards or so from the Balfours’ former home, Balbirnie House.

Sanctuary Wood Cemetery entrance:-

Entrance, Sanctuary Wood Cemetery, Hooge, near Ypres

Stone of Remembrance and Cross of Sacrifice from entrance:-

Stone of Remembrance and Cross Sacrifice, Sanctuary Wood Cemetery

Information board:-

Information Board, Sanctuary Wood Cemetery

Graves:-

Graves, Sanctuary Wood Cemetery

Graves from south:-

Sanctuary Wood Cemetery Graves from South

I found one German War grave in the cemetery, Flieg Hauptmann Hans Roser, F Fliegerabt 3, 25/7/1915:-

German War Grave, Sanctuary Wood Cemetery

Just outside Sanctuary Wood Cemetery there is a private memorial in memory of Keith Rae, 2nd Lieutenant, 8th Battalion the Rifle Brigade, “who died on this spot, 30/7/1915, in his 26th year.” “Also in memory of his brother officers and men who fell on the same morning and afternoon.”

No individual memorials were/are allowed inside Imperial/Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries. Whatever their differences in life (not least in military rank) in death it was decided that all should be treated equally, with identical headstones. Apart from name rank, number and their regimental insignia (and a special marking in the shape of that award if the deceased had won a Victoria Cross) only an inscription chosen by the deceased’s family and situated to the bottom of the headstone distinguishes one from another.

I presume this memorial was allowed by the Belgian authorities since it lies beyond Sanctuary Wood Cemetery’s boundaries:-

Private Memorial Outside Sanctuary Wood Cemetery

Floods at Balbirnie Park, August 2020

Last August there was severe flooding in Balbirnie Park. The Back Burn even overflowed by Balbirnie Golf Club’s eighteenth green, probably due to that tree trunk stuck at the bridge. Part of the revetments had been washed away:-

Floods, Balbirnie Golf Course, August 2020

Floods at Bridge, Balbirnie Golf Club

Between Golf Club’s clubhouse and Balbirnie House Hotel the road was flooded:-

Floods, Balbirnie Park

The area just at Balbirnie House (and Hotel) which had flooded in February 2020 did so again:-

Balbirnie Park Floods August 2020

Floods Balbirnie Park, August 2020

The Back Burn, Balbirnie (i)

The Back Burn runs through the Balbirnie Estate on its way from the East Lomond round Markinch and on to the River Leven near Methilhill. It’s good for walks – even when you’re not cooped up by a lockdown.

After wandering under the A 92 and through a wooded glen it runs past the eighteenth hole of the golf course built over half of the estate:-

Balbirnie burn

Then down a cobbled slope:-

Burn

Under a bridge:-

Back Burn

On:-

Burn

And on:-

Back Burn

Back Burn

Before swinging under another bridge to make a turn under Stob Cross Road across to the railway line and down the east of Markinch:-

Back Burn

One of the things you might not expect to see in Fife but is present in the estate is a Giant Redwood tree:-

giant redwood tree

There’s a wildlife pond between the boarded path and the redwood as seen from near the burn:-

A Giant Redwood in Fife

Balbirnie Estate has a lot of rhododendron plants. They’re just about on the point of coming into flower this year. This was from 2019:-

Rhododendron, Balbirnie, Fife

War Memorials Inside St Drostan’s, Markinch

In the entrance to St Drostan’s Church, Markinch is this Great War (labelled European War) Roll of Honour. (My own photograph is on flickr, but I found this better one via the church’s website.) Names underlined in red “made the supreme sacrifice”:-

Roll of Honour, St Drostan's Markinch

Memorial to the European War 1914-1918. This plaque is likely to have been relocated from Balbirnie UF Church or Brunton UF Church (St Mark’s):-

European War 1914-1918 Memorial, St Drostan's, Markinch

“To the men of this congregation who fell in the Great War 1914-1918. Their name liveth for evermore.” Again probably relocated:-

Great War Memorial St Drostan's, Markinch,

“Markinch Parish Church. Sacred to the memory of the men of this church who gave their lives for their country in the Great War.”

St Drostan's, Markinch Great War Memorial

“In loving memory of Captain James Alfred Balfour 1st Batt. Highland Light Infantry, killed in action 11th January 1917 at Kut-el-Amara, Mesopotamia. Born at Balbirnie.” Balbirnie is the local “big house” now (having been sold off by the Balfour family) a hotel and its grounds converted into a park and golf course.

James Balfour Memorial, St Drostan's, Markinch

Memorial to WW2 dead of St Drostan’s Parish, Markinch. “Their name liveth for evermore”

St Drostan's Markinch, WW2 Memorial

Memorial to the members of Markinch Parish Church who died in the Second World War. Again probably moved to St Drostan’s from elsewhere. Note the name of a woman, Margaret P Todd:-

WW2 Memorial St Drostan's Markinch

free hit counter script