Workers Memorial

Just before you reach the Beaminster Tunnel (coming from Bridport) there is a small cross painted on a stone by the side of the road. This is a memorial to William Aplin, a labourer, who was killed by “a quantity of earth falling on him in widening the road under Hornhill, this side of the tunnel. In the past it was regularly repainted by road workers but recently, due in part from increased traffic it has become obscured.

But as part of the recent refurbishment to the tunnel the verges have been cleared and the memorial stone repainted.

Photo: Jonathan Hudston – www.realwestdorset.co.uk

When  Beaminster Tunnel was built in 1831-32, the 1831 census says that the tunnel works provided jobs for 50 out of the 70 non-agricultural labourers in Beaminster. On the day it was opened a flag bearer and two bands led the way, and a procession nearly half a mile long marched up from Beaminster to Horn Hill, where a 21-gun salute was fired. Spectators numbered about 9,000. There was a fair on Horn Hill, and a hot air balloon ascended from a field near Beaminster. Labourers were paid a bonus of two shillings and sixpence, much of which was spent in the town’s 16 pubs. The day ended with fireworks let off from the church tower.

The unfortunate Mr William Aplin missed the festivities by 3 days.