Rising Sun Memorial Alan Payne Photos courtesy Varian Tye November 2019
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Most villagers know about the tragedy of the Rising Sun Public House on Box Hill when a gas explosion in the cellar killed three members of the Griffin family on 4 December 1957. The disaster is etched in the memory of contemporary Box residents in the same way that the death of Diana Princess of Wales did forty years later.
The Rising Sun Memorial Committee has been trying to make a permanent memorial at the site. Now their marvellous crowd fundraising and other grants have come to fruition with the site held in community ownership, a new supporting wall built for the north boundary line and a dedicated memorial display board erected (seen above).
The Rising Sun Memorial Committee has been trying to make a permanent memorial at the site. Now their marvellous crowd fundraising and other grants have come to fruition with the site held in community ownership, a new supporting wall built for the north boundary line and a dedicated memorial display board erected (seen above).
The site has now significantly altered its character, away from the sadness of the tragedy to soemthing more uplifting as a suitable tribute to the people who lost their lives. It is now the central to some of the most impressive views of the Box Valley, worthy to commemorate the disaster whilst giving hope to all of us for the future.
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