10th Warrington Scout Hut

The origin of the scout hut has been passed down through the group. It is said it was used to house Italian prisoners of war during the Second World War at a camp on South Lane, Barrows Green. A letter from Arthur Dorning (Group Scout Leader) in 1984 to the Council asking for grant funding states the hut was “…originally an Italian Prisoner of War Barrack on the Cronton Road…”, the Cronton Road being the A5080 which runs from the West of Penketh towards the village of Cronton. This road leaves Penketh named Farnworth Road and then changes to South Lane after the Liverpool to Manchester railway line.

The following information gives some background to the POW camp and how it has changed over the years.

List of WWII POW camps from Guardian website http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2010/nov/08/prisoner-of-war-camps-uk

Based on the book Churchill’s Unexpected Guests by Sophie Jackson

After Prisoner of War Camps (1939 – 1948), Roger JC Thomas, English Heritage 2003 http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/upload/pdf/Prisoner_of_War_Camps.pdf

Gdn ID	National Grid Reference (NGR)	OS sheet no.	Camp no.	Name & Location, County, Country	County	Country	Cond’n	Type 1945	Comments
342	SJ 5416 8789	108	290	Penketh Hostel, South Lane Farm, South Lane, Barrow’s Green, Lancashire, England	Lancashire	England	3 (Partial remains)	German Working Camp	Former Heavy Anti-aircraft battery (HAA Bty)

1937-1939 map – pre-war the site is a green field

1954-1956 map – the POW camp is shown but not the Heavy Anti-Aircraft (HAA) battery. The battery was constructed and used during WWII but then extended and upgraded in the Cold War period. It may therefore not be shown on this map for security reasons.