First World War Training Trenches and associated earthworks south of Berkhamsted Cricket Club

Summary

The earthwork remains of practice trenches constructed by the Inns of Court Officer Training Corps (‘The Devil’s Own’) begun on 17 July 1917.

Reasons for Designation

The Labyrinth, or First World War training trenches south of Berkhamsted Cricket Club, constructed in 1917 by the Inns of Court Officers' Training Corps, is scheduled for the following principal reasons:

Period:

* the trenches eloquently characterise the period of their creation, evoking trench warfare and the training of volunteers during the First World War;

Rarity:

* despite the large numbers in which they were original constructed, the survival of training trenches is relatively uncommon;

Documentation:

* detailed understanding of the trenches and their importance is aided by contemporary source material including contemporary photographs, combined with later secondary literature, aerial photography and LIDAR images;

Survival:

* the trenches are understood to have been subject to very little alteration since they were in-filled and have not been excavated or restored. Their rare survival provides a physical record of the vast enterprise of recruitment and training required to sustain the British forces of the First World War, and in particular of the role of the Inns of Court Officers' Training Corps;

Diversity:

* in addition to the trench network, which includes both front-line and communication trenches, two of three contemporary hollows / ditches also survive and are thought to have been used for training in throwing grenades;

Potential:

* having over a century of back-fill, the trenches have significant potential, to enhance our understanding of the context and development of First World War trench construction and training conditions.

History

The site comprises a compact set of trenches known as the 'Labyrinth', it is situated on land immediately south of Berkhamstead Cricket Club and lies nearby to the scheduled remains of Berkhamsted Castle. The castle itself was begun in the C11 and the site of the Labyrinth formed part of its historic deer park until the C17. It is also in close proximity to the scheduled site of a probable Roman building, roughly 125m to the north.

Map evidence indicates that the site of the Labyrinth was essentially undeveloped throughout the post-medieval period, until the onset of the First World War.

The United Kingdom declared war on Germany on 4 August 1914. The rate of voluntary enlistment was extremely high and rapid so that pre-existing military units expanded at an incredible pace. The Inns of Court Officer Training Corps, also known as 'The Devil's Own', was one such group. The Corps' traditional home in central London was quickly outgrown and by September that year a training camp was established at Berkhamsted Common. Around 2,000 men were accommodated at the camp, mostly in tents. It continued in operation until June 1919, by which date around 12,000 men had been commissioned as officers through the Corps, and around 13km of training trenches had been dug across the Northchurch and Berkhamsted Commons. More than half of the Devil's Own were injured, including 2,147 killed. Three of the men trained at the camp were awarded Victoria Crosses.

The Labyrinth is a separate trench system from the main training trenches dug on the commons. It is much closer to the town and to the principal training ground at what is now called Kitchener's Field. Lt Colonel F Errington's 1922 book detailing the history of the Corps during the First World War states "On July 17th [in 1917] the construction of the labyrinth in Kitchener's Field was commenced". On 1st October of the same year a cow fell into the trench and died. A waggish 'court of inquiry' determined that it 'died in an attempt to escape from an aeroplane (believed to be hostile) which flew over Kitchener's Field that night.'

The trenches are shown in contemporary photographs, the parapets strengthened with turn and sandbags, the sides supported by posts at regular intervals, and the floors covered with wooden planks.

The Labyrinth is more compact than the more extensive trenches dug on the commons and it is possible that they were constructed principally to familiarise recruits with trench layout, or as demonstration trenches for public fund raising events. The pair of straight, parallel trenches/ditches to the immediate south of the Labyrinth may have been constructed to practice bomb (grenade) throwing.

Following the Treaty of Versailles the camp was disbanded and the land around the labyrinth was returned to agricultural use. The trenches were filled in after the war and are shown as such in photographs from the 1940s. Their layout remains legible as a set of earthworks. The trenches on the commons appear to have survived for a longer period without alteration and were described in Graham Greene's 1978 novel 'The Human Factor' as continuing to provide a hazard years later: 'It was unsafe to wander there without proper knowledge... a stranger risked a sudden fall and a broken leg.'

There is no history of excavation or restoration associated with the trenches in the post - First World War era. They are visible in various aerial photographs from the 1940s onwards, they can clearly be seen in LIDAR imagery, and can be traced on the ground as banks and ditches.

Details

PRINCIPAL ELEMENTS: the earthwork remains of practice trenches constructed by the Inns of Court Officer Training Corps (‘The Devil’s Own’) begun on 17 July 1917. The site comprises a compact set of trenches possibly intended for public demonstrations, with a crenelated frontline to the south, rear zig-zag communication trenches to the north, and secondary trench lines. Two parallel hollows or ditches to the south may have formed part of the same set of features. The site lies in an area of pasture between Berkhamsted Cricket Club to the north and the domestic gardens of Castle Hill to the south.

DESCRIPTION: the site lies in an area of pasture between Berkhamsted Cricket Club (to the north) and the domestic gardens of Castle Hill (to the south). A private track runs past the eastern boundary, and an historic earthen bank runs near to the western boundary leading to continuous fields. The area is roughly an acre in size.

A clear linear trench marks the eastern extent of the network, forming a straight line between the hollow-way at the northern boundary of the site and the south-east corner of the trenches. It runs north-south for roughly 45m.

At the southern end of the compact network of trenches is a ‘front-line’ trench roughly 27m from end to end. It follows a ‘crenellated’ plan which steps in and out at 2-3m intervals as a baffle to protect against shell blasts.

Approximately 10m to the rear (north) of the ‘front line’ is a straight, parallel trench, and a third is around 9m north again. These are connected from north to south by three zig-zagging communication trenches. Two longer communication trenches connect the northern parallel trench to the edge of the hollow-way where they become indistinct.

20m south of the ‘front line’ is a hollow or ditch that runs roughly east-west for 20m. A second, corresponding hollow of the same dimensions can be found a further 20m south. Historically a third hollow of this kind existed beneath what has become the domestic gardens of Castle Hill.

The trenches can be seen on LIDAR imagery and as surviving earthworks. There is no history of excavation or restoration of these features. They are likely to have been in-filled at the disbandment of the camp in 1919 and were photographed as such in the 1940s.

The surviving earthwork features clearly indicate the layout of the trenches so that they can be followed on the ground as a series of ditches and banks. The ditches follow the pattern of the trenches and are typically between 1m-1.5m wide and 0.4-0.6m in depth.

EXTENT OF SCHEDULING: the scheduling boundary extends 3m beyond the edge of the surviving features as identified by LIDAR. This is considered necessary to aid the support and preservation of the monument.

Sources

Books and journals
Greene, G, The Human Factor, (1978), 11-12
Lt Colonel F. Errington, , The Inns of Court Officers Training Corps during the Great Way, (1922), 16-17, 34-35, 38, 50-51

End of official list entry

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