On Sunday afternoon 23 October 1921, as reported by the Western Gazette, “there took place one of the most impressive and soul-stirring ceremonies in the history of the borough. It was Shaftesbury’s day with the dead. Here upon the wind-swept walk, in the chilly, moist atmosphere of an October day, hundreds of townspeople honoured the […]
The Commons in question being almost a public square where Shaftesbury High Street meets Bell Street. On opposite sides of the road, two key locations in a drama from the fractious summer of 1830: on the right the Grosvenor Arms, then a coaching inn and headquarters of the ruling Grosvenor interest; and facing it, the […]
“If he were not a clergyman, I would give him a good thrashing.” The full text of the story first told on the Alfred Daily podcast. During the 1870’s, the peace of Shaftesbury was much disturbed by a man who was variously described as the ‘Quarrelsome Vicar’, ‘The Political Parson’, ‘Persecuted Preacher’ and the ‘Cantankerous […]
