Enoch Stone

This memorial stone can be seen on Derby Road, Chaddesden at the corner of Oregon Way. The stone was erected by the family of Enoch Stone to mark the place where he was attacked and fatally injured on the night of Monday 23 June 1856.

Enoch Stone, known to his friends as Knocky, was a native of Spondon. He was employed as a glove maker and was a regular church goer and organ blower at Spondon Church. He was not very mobile, being of small stature and suffering from paralysis.

At eight in the evening of 23 June 1856, he left his Spondon home to walk to Derby to collect his son’s clothes. His son was a servant of Mr Moore of Appleby Hall and regularly sent his clothes home for washing. After collecting his son’s hamper, he began his journey home, stopping at the Plough Inn on Nottingham Road to see his friends and to rest and have a drink and sandwich.

He then set off sober in the clear moonlit night towards Spondon. Before reaching Spondon he was attacked and struck on the head a number of times, fracturing his skull. This happened at about 11:30pm. Many people passed by him lying in the hedge thinking that he was drunk.

At 1 am, two coachmen travelling to Derby saw a bundle of rags lying in the road and stopped to investigate. They found Enoch bleeding to death in the hedgerow, he was alive but unconscious. His pockets had been turned out and his boots stolen. His son's clothes were scattered around, many were missing.

Enoch taken by cart to his own house and tended by Dr James Cade (owner and resident of the Homestead) but he died at six in the morning. He had never regained consciousness. Dr Cade had known him as a patient and said that Mr Stone was not a strong man, he had paralysis for 22 years which caused him to drag one leg. He was buried at St Werburgh’s Church, Spondon on 26 June 1856.

On 2 July reward notices were put in the local papers offering Ł120 for information leading to conviction of those who committed the murder. The Government offered Ł100 and Spondon Parishioners the remaining Ł20.

His inquest was held at the Malt Shovel Inn, Spondon, on 21 July, with Sir Henry Wilmot of Chaddesden Hall presiding as the magistrate. The jury returned a verdict of murder by persons unknown and the case was closed.

No one was convicted of the murder. David Hall, who was arrested on suspicion of the murder, was released when he provided proof that he was at Bromsgrove Fair at the time.

Many years later, the memorial stone was discovered in the hedge bottom by a developer who bought the land to build some bungalows. After the hedgerow had been removed and the building work completed, the developer replaced the stone, setting it in a suitable surround to ensure that Enoch will continue to be remembered through the stone and a nearby cul-de-sac, which is named Enoch Stone Drive.

Tony Bowler and Jean Moss