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 […]
An all-age Autumn Crafts Day at Gold Hill Museum on Wednesday 25 October will enable participants to try their hand at pressing apples, making Dorset buttons, and clay and paper crafts. Nick Crump will lead special workshops at 11.00a.m. and 2.00p.m. in the art of making woven fish. These workshops are suitable for ages 6 […]
One of two English kings named “The Great”; saviour of Anglo-Saxon Wessex from the Danes; creator of a chain of fortified “burhs” including Shaftesbury; founder of Shaftesbury Abbey; law-maker, scholar and father of the English navy. Alfred’s list of achievements is long and impressive, but how much of his reputation is based on contemporary spin […]
Travel website TripAdvisor has awarded its Certificate of Excellence for 2017 to Gold Hill Museum. 61% of nearly 200 contributors to the website rated the Museum as “excellent” while the average score was 4.5 out of 5. The most recent reviewers enthused about a “brilliant MUST VISIT museum with FREE entry.” Chairman David Silverside, pictured […]
Contributors to the 2017-18 programme of Shaftesbury & District Historical Society lectures include a popular local history writer, a former Lord Mayor of London, an Ambassador to Japan, two leading academics, and a student of statues. The historical subjects covered include Dorset Smugglers, William Beckford Senior, Statues within 50 miles of Shaftesbury, Shakespeare’s Guildhall, and […]
Researcher Chris Stupples has listed 31 men from Shaftesbury and District who died in the ill-fated Allied offensive of autumn 1917, known also as the Third Battle of Ypres. The display in Room 8 of Gold Hill Museum highlights brief biographies of eight: Privates Harry Gray, Walter Hodder, Arthur Mayo, and Tom Roberts; Gunners Charles […]
Local History Librarian and Archivist Ray Simpson has created a new display on the histories of great estates within easy reach of Shaftesbury. These include Old and New Wardour Castles (film locations for Robin Hood and Billy Elliott respectively), Ferne House at Donhead St Andrew, Pythouse (scene of a Swing Riot in 1830), Stourhead, and […]
Readers of BBC History Magazine have voted King Alfred, founder of Shaftesbury Abbey, into third place in the History Hot 100 for 2017. Alfred was pipped to the post by Eleanor of Aquitaine and Richard III. Decide for yourself whether Alfred deserves this rating by attending this year’s Teulon Porter Memorial Lecture at Shaftesbury Town […]
The Shaftesbury & District Historical Society is shortly to publish its programme of lectures for 2017-18. At 2.30 p.m. on 02 January 2018 in the Garden Room at Gold Hill Museum historian and writer Dave Martin will discuss Cast Bronze Reputations; statues in the Wessex street. Dave promises that all the statues featured will be […]
At the July AGM of The Shaftesbury & District Historical Society, four very good servants and supporters of Gold Hill Museum were elected or re-elected as Trustees. With King Alfred looking on, they were (from left to right) Ken Howe, Sheena Commons, Janet Swiss and Ray Simpson. After 15 years’ sterling service, John Parker has […]
