RESIDENTS and visitors to Somerset’s county town braved driving rain to pay their final respects to Taunton teenager Barnaby Webber on Friday (July 14).

Barnaby was tragically killed during a series of attacks in Nottingham last month, along with fellow Nottingham University student Grace O’Malley-Kumar and caretaker Ian Coates.

Family, friends and schoolmates gathered at Taunton Minster on Friday morning for his funeral, with dozens lining Hammet Street as the coffin passed and watching the service on an outside screen.

Before and after the service, visitors paid tribute to Barnaby to match those within the service – with some travelling many miles to be there.

Barnaby attended Taunton School where his passion for sport and life shone, before he relocated to Nottingham for his studies.

By the time his coffin arrived at the church – made of wicker and in the University of Nottingham colours – dozens of mourners had lined the street, with numerous representatives from the university and Taunton School filing into the church.

Ken Hammersley, who travelled from Birmingham to be there, said: “It’s a terrible thing, this knife crime. These three people were innocent.

“The government keep telling us they’re putting money in to fix it, but we never see any difference.”

Roy Jones, who came down from Bristol, added: “There’s nowhere I’d rather be today. What happened to him was awful – the whole of the south west is here to support his family.”

Barnaby’s coffin entered the church to the sound of ‘Into The West’ by Annie Lennox, from the soundtrack of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

The song was a fitting choice – in the film, it follows the journey of Frodo Baggins to the Grey Havens (Tolkien’s analogue for heaven) following the end of his heroic journey.

Inside the church, it was placed beside signed cricket shirts with his number, 53, on them – in a fitting but eerie echo of the funeral of Australian cricketer Phillip Hughes, who died in 2014.

The service was a mixture of traditional religious music and more contemporary, secular offerings, with soaring chorals renditions of ‘Amazing Grace’ and ‘Jerusalem’ being matched by ‘This Is Me’ from The Greatest Showman.

Several Taunton School teachers paid tribute to Barnaby, with Rob Gallimore saying: “We will not see his like again. By living like he did, we can become better people.”

Philip Edwards added “He lived life to the full. We can honour him by doing the same.”

Poetry played a strong part in the service, including recitals of Rudyard Kipling’s ‘If’ and ‘High Flight’ by John Gillespie Magee Jr.

Most moving was a poem composed and read by Abi Rawkins, which concluded: “We will keep your brazier lit/ For all those who drew warmth from it/ This will be our solemn vow/ No-one can put your light out now.”

Other contributions were more light-hearted, with Nottingham students sharing memories of their time with Barnaby on the cricket pitch.

Nathan White said: “He was a frustratingly good-looking bloke… he lived a full life, and it’s sad we won’t make any more memories together.”

Ollie Chaplain shared a story of playing a cricket match hungover with Barnaby, saying: “I can’t believe I’ll never set foot on the pitch again with him.”

Dr. Eliza Getman, the chaplain at Taunton School, said that Barnaby had lived by example – despite showing little interest in the services she held virtually during the coronavirus lockdowns.

She said “Barnaby Webber mastered the most important lesson in life: be kind.

“He loved the diversity and excitement of Nottingham – he loved people, and they loved him back. He knew relationships with people are the most important thing.

“Barnaby has given us a wonderful gift, binding our lives closer together. Look out for each other.

“Be the light in the darkness. Live with dignity even in the horror of unspeakable loss.”

The Right Reverend Ruth Worsley, the Bishop of Bath and Wells, read from John’s gospel, specifically the passage where Jesus comforts his disciples about his imminent death, telling them: “I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.”

Barnaby’s family also paid hearfelt tributes – which including humorous anecdoctes about his favourite film being Cars 2 and his early arguments with his mother about the correct way to pronounce ‘abominable’.

Following their tributes, the church and the mourners outside broke into a minute of cheering and applause in Barnaby’s memory, before the coffin filed out of the church to ‘Mr. Brightside’ by The Killers.

Outside the church, Taunton resident Sarah Walters said: “That was a really fitting send-off. We will never forget him.”

Those wishing to honour Barnaby’s memory can make donations to the newly-formed Barnaby Webber Foundation, which will “be used to honour him and all that he stood for”.

For more information visit https://bit.ly/BarnabyWebberFoundation.