Houchin British Cemetery
This elevated Casualty Clearing Station cemetery at Houchin places all east‑facing graves between a beech‑backed War Stone terrace, reached by a finely detailed brick‑and‑stone stair with built‑in seats beneath four limes, and a central‑path Cross of Sacrifice overlooking the surrounding arable landscape.
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Description
The cemetery was used by various Casualty Clearing Stations from March 1918 onwards until the end of the war. The War Stone has been placed on the east side and all graves face east, with the exception of the German graves.
The field is located on a sand track amidst arable land, on elevated terrain. Huge trees bordering the field with graves characterize the cemetery from a distance. A stair- way between walls of natural stone and brickwork leads to the War Stone, which is situated amidst four large lime trees. Seats have been incorporated in the walls of the stairway, which has attractive details and steps whose measurements continue onward in the walls. The combination of brick- work and white limestone is typical of the work of Lutyens, who consciously or otherwise adopted local building tradition. In Houchin village one can still find some beautiful farmhouses that survived the Great War, with the same attractive combination of brickwork and limestone.
Behind the War Stone a seat has been placed against the beech hedge surrounding the cemetery. At right angles to this entrance axis is the central axis of the cemetery, which leads to the Cross of Sacrifice via a broad central path. The sloping terrain offers a fine perspective of the landscape on the east side, framed by the high lime trees around the War Stone. The basic shape of the cemetery is a square, with four plots. However, as one corner of the field has been cut off, the fourth plot has only one row of graves. There are two average-size limes and three large chestnut trees on the boundary of the cemetery. (Geurst, 2010, p.332)
Bibliography
Geurst, J. (2010) Cemeteries of the Great War by Sir Edwin Lutyens. Rotterdam: 010 Publishers.
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