Scarlett’s Stride

Scarlett’s Stride is a charity walk named after General James Yorke Scarlett who is buried in St John the Divine churchyard near to the starting point of this walk which is named in his honour. The walk raises funds to preserve the historical church which was first consecrated in 1787. It passes through the spectacular scenery of the Cliviger Gorge and includes the inspirational landscape features on which my final project is based: namely the Fireman’s Helmet, the Hanging Valley and the escarpment of Thieveley Scout.

Fireman's Helmet

Cliviger Gorge

Hanging Valley

General Scarlett was born in London in 1799 and went to Eton and Trinity College Cambridge. As a young army officer, he was stationed at Burnley Barracks and settled in Burnley on his marriage in1835 to Charlotte Anne, daughter of the Hargreaves family, a local coal mining family.

He is best known for his role as commander of the Heavy Brigade during the Crimean war. The Light Brigade’s defeat at the battle of Balaclava has been widely immortalised in Tennyson’s poem but that defeat was to overshadow Scarlett’s earlier success in the battle. His lesser-known Heavy Brigade, even though heavily outnumbered, overpowered the Russians, forcing their retreat. He won promotion and continued to serve in the army until his retirement when he returned to politics, standing in the 1868 General Election for Burnley where he was narrowly defeated.

Scarlett died at his Bank Hall estate in1871, aged 72. On the day of his funeral, it was reported that over 260 officers and men marched in the funeral procession and an estimated 60,000 people lined a 4 mile stretch of road to pay their respects on the way from his home to his resting place in St John the Divine’s Cliviger Churchyard

St John the Divine Church, Cliviger General James Yorke Scarlett General Scarlett’s grave