Monumental end to debate over grave of Blackie the war horse

Patrick Sawer Lynne Wallis

BRITAIN’S only listed grave of a First World War horse is to be restored after developers planning to build on the land decided to make it the focal point of a new housing estate.

The death in 1942 of Blackie, an officer’s horse that saw action at the Battle of Ypres and at the Somme, struck a chord in wartime Britain.

The animal was buried at a horse sanctuary where it spent his final days after the war, alongside the medals of the wartime poet Lieutenant Leonard Comer Wall, its 20-year-old rider, who was killed at Ypres in June 1917. Blackie survived the same attack despite being wounded by shrapnel. After the war, Lt Wall’s mother, Kate, brought the horse back to Britain to live out its days near their home.

Years later, its grave came under threat after an RSPCA animal centre built on the site of the horse sanctuary closed. But in 2017, Historic England gave Blackie’s resting place, off Higher Road, in Halewood, Liverpool, protected status. The Grade II listing made it the only resting place of a First World War horse to be protected in this way.

Thanks to the intervention, Blackie’s grave is set to become the centrepiece of the housing development, following a public campaign to save it.

Knowsley council has released plans showing how the grave will be incorporated into a striking memorial amid a meadow, with a pedestrian and cycle route to encourage visitors to visit it.

A council spokesman said: “The grave… is going to be preserved on its original site, so it can’t be demolished or moved. We are going to make a big deal of it, with commemorative public art erected around the grave. It is going to be a key area with space for memorial services and a meadow that will celebrate the story and history of Blackie.”