Brooksby Church packed as local community commemorate Battle of Jutland centenary

The Lord Lieutenant of Leicestershire, Jennifer, Lady Gretton, JP, lays a wreath at the Jutland Memorial in Brooksby Church EMN-160531-124604001

Brooksby Hall was owned by Admiral Sir David Beatty from 1911 to his death in 1936 as he and his wife, Ethel, were keen followers of hounds.

He served as Commander of the Battlecruiser Fleet in the Battle of Jutland and subsequently became Commander-in-Chief, receiving the surrender of the German High Seas Fleet in 1919.

A bust of the Admiral stands in St Michael & All Angels Church, alongside a memorial to the officers and men who died in the battle.

St Michael & All Angels Church, Brooksby, was filled to capacity on Sunday morning when the local community commemorated the centenary of the Battle of Jutland EMN-160531-124016001

Sunday’s service - in the presence of Admiral Beatty’s family, the Mayor and Mayoress of Melton and members of the Royal Naval Association, Senior Service Club and Sea Cadets - was conducted by Canon Malcolm Britton. The organist was Anne de Graeve, with Sam Thomas from Hoby playing The Last Post and Reveille. Michael Gane and Dacia Marlow read the lessons.

Wreaths were laid at the Jutland Memorial by the Lord Lieutenant of Leicestershire, Jennifer, Lady Gretton, JP and by Commander Neil Bing RN.

Preacher was the Rev Richard Ellingham RN. The blessing was pronounced by the Right Rev Christopher Boyle, Assistant Bishop of Leicester.

In the evening the Ratcliffe Chorale performed a programme of “Songs Nautical and National”, including rousing audience participation in “What shall we do with a drunken sailor?” and “Rule, Britannia!”.

A photographic exhibition with information from the Beatty archive and elsewhere, organised by Diane Horsfield and other members of the Hoby & District Local History Society, has been on display throughout the week.