Eighteen members of The Shaftesbury & District Historical Society enjoyed their summer outing on 05 June to the Somerset City of Wells. An expert guided tour by Cathedral volunteer Anne Smith highlighted the sculpture-laden West Front, the secular stories (frequently featuring toothache) carved in the capitals of internal pillars, and the unusual Scissor Arches inserted […]
At the official launch party held at Gold Hill Museum on 28 March, over forty members and friends of The Shaftesbury & District Historical Society were quick to snap up signed copies of Roger Guttridge’s latest book. In the presence of the Mayor of Shaftesbury and Mrs Lewer, and introduced by S&DHS Librarian/Archivist Ray Simpson […]
Mabel Giffard was elected Abbess of Shaftesbury in 1291. She would be one of the most pre-eminent women of her day, as head of the most prosperous Abbey in the south of England, founded in the ninth century by Alfred the Great. Retired diplomat and local resident Sir Sydney Giffard shares the results of his […]
Tickets for the Shaftesbury Snowdrop Festival event at Gold Hill Museum on Thursday 15 February 2-4p.m. are now available from the Bell Street Tourist Information Centre at £3 per person. Participants will be making their own Snowdrop Dragon using natural materials. All ages are welcome but children must be accompanied by a responsible adult. This […]
On Tuesday 02 January 2018 at 2.30p.m. at Gold Hill Museum Dave Martin will talk about Cast Bronze Reputations in the Wessex Street. Author of history textbooks and frequent contributor to The Historian magazine of the Historical Association, Dave travels the country in search of statues in public places. He seeks to answer the questions: […]
Members and Trustees of The Shaftesbury & District Historical…
Thanks to Keri Jones for creating, and former Lord Mayor of London Sir John Stuttard for contributing to, a six minute podcast about Sir John’s forthcoming talk on the William Beckfords, father and son, at Gold Hill Museum on Tuesday 05 December at 2.30p.m. This lecture is free to Shaftesbury & District Historical Society members, […]
Shaftesbury & District Historical Society member Keri Jones has created a superb 16 minute podcast relating to the launch of the Shaftesbury Remembers website on 11 November. You can hear interviews with Ann Symons, Claire Ryley and Chris Stupples (seen above with website designer Rob Frost, far left, and the Mayor and Mrs Lewer) as […]
It was standing room only in the Anna McDowell Garden Room at Gold Hill Museum for the official launch of the ‘Shaftesbury Remembers’ website created by The S&DHS Great War Community Project team. Ninety Project contributors, accompanied by the Mayor of Shaftesbury and Mrs Lewer, saw the website demonstrated by designer Rob Frost (far left) […]
Roger Guttridge is a direct descendant of North Dorset’s most notorious smuggler and proud of it. In his talk at Gold Hill Museum on Tuesday 07 November at 2.30p.m. he will tell how family legends about his ancestor’s exploits first sparked his interest and led to his first book, Dorset Smugglers, published in 1983. He […]
