FIELDS WE PROTECT

Great Harwood Memorial Park is split into two areas by a road, with once part comprising playing fields and a pavilion and the other set to grass with orchard areas and the town’s war memorial. The park was opened on 25th July 1920 after 22 acres of land was purchased by local people and handed over to the Urban District Council as a public park. The freehold title was conveyed to the Council for the purposes of a public park as the Council may deem proper.

The war memorial, made of Creetown granite, was unveiled on 2nd October 1926 by Maj Gen Sir Neil Malcolm KCB CB DSO assisted by Mrs Ormerod of Great Harwood who had lost three sons in the war. The memorial lists 372 men from the area who fell during World War I, many from the East Lancashire Regiment which was one of those affectionately known as a “Pals” battalion. The memorial also lists 55 names from World War II and one from each of the Falklands conflict, Korean War and Malayan Emergency.