Reflections at Lonsdale Quarry

Lonsdale Quarry was fully operational during in 1874, run by a Mr Grievson. It was likely the source of stone for Christ Church in Great Ayton, opened in 1877¹o’Sullivan, Dan. “Great Ayton: A history of the village”. 1983. Page 104.. The quarry is now quiet, a place for solitude and reflection. But it also holds a bleak memory.

One Monday in May 1874, quarryman James Smith arrived for work with his dog. Another man, James Parker, turned up soon after. The dog barked at a cabin. Inside, they found Stephen Hunter hanging from a rafter, tarred rope around his neck. They cut him down and Smith ran down to the village to fetch the police constable.

In the grate were burnt papers and nearby a knife, assumed to have been used to cut the rope. A broken noose of the same rope lay nearby. A man named John Wilson had seen Hunter on the Saturday afternoon, heading towards Gribdale Gate. He thought Hunter seemed “low”.

Hunter was the schoolmaster at the Marwood School, a respected man who had served in the village for 25 years. His sudden death stunned the community. He had left home on Saturday, and his family thought he might be attending to a property in Saltburn. He sometimes stayed away without notice. His son William, also a schoolmaster, recalled his father being uncharacteristically kind before leaving. He blamed this on his own illness at the time. He also noted his father’s excitable nature and spells of deep, unnatural sleep. Dr Cumming, the family doctor, believed these episodes pointed to a disturbed mind.

At the inquest, it emerged that Hunter had intended to pay a sum of money in Stokesley that day. He believed he was morally obliged to pay it, though there was no legal duty. The jury found that Stephen Hunter had “committed suicide while suffering from a fit of insanity”²Northern Weekly Gazette — 28 May 1874. SHOCKING SUICIDE OF A VILLAGE SCHOOLMASTER. https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003072/18740528/054/0005.

Stephen Hunter was buried in Great Ayton churchyard. The funeral would have taken place immediately that evening following the inquest between 9 pm and midnight. The Burial of Suicides Act 1823 allowed such an interment in consecrated ground, though without Christian rites. It also put an end to the older custom of burying suicides at crossroads with a stake through the heart. The last of these legal humiliations were removed by the Interments (felo de se) Act 1882, which allowed for burial at anytime and with religious rites.

This sandstone quarry, once a place of sweat and toil, now rests as a quiet reminder of a man lost to despair.

• 1
  o’Sullivan, Dan. “Great Ayton: A history of the village”. 1983. Page 104.
• 2
  Northern Weekly Gazette — 28 May 1874. SHOCKING SUICIDE OF A VILLAGE SCHOOLMASTER. https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003072/18740528/054/0005