Entries by Ian Kellett

In the footsteps of William Beckford

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The 06 June summer outing of The Shaftesbury & District Historical Society brought 30 members to the site of William Beckford’s great Gothic folly at Fonthill Old Abbey. Only a fragment remains of the original cruciform pile, built on the proceeds of sugar and slavery. That the tip of the northern limb of the Abbey still stands […]

Tisbury Tithe Barn and Fonthill Old Abbey

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On the afternoon of Tuesday 06 June members of The Shaftesbury & District Historical Society have the opportunity to make privilege visits to Tisbury Tithe Barn and Fonthill Old Abbey. The Tithe Barn at Place Farm, reputedly the largest in England, is now a venue for art exhibitions and events. The history of the Fonthill estate will be […]

Sensation at The Sun and Moon November 1906

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Hanging once again outside Gold Hill Museum, above the passageway down from the High Street, is the newly restored Sun and Moon Inn sign. During the winter months Shaftesbury & District Historical Society Trustee John Parker repainted and repositioned the sign, derived from the crest of the Bowles family after whom the Bowles Arms (or Sun and […]

19 Lodgers at No.1 Gold Hill in 1911

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Members of The Shaftesbury & District Historical Society were treated to a diverse range of local insights at their annual Tea and Talks on Tuesday 04 April. The cakes baked by Elaine Barratt were excellent too. Ray Simpson unfolded the tangled story of Pasqualino Fuoco, the Italian proprietor of the Edwardian lodging house in Sun […]

Gold Hill Museum Opens For The 2017 Season

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From Saturday 01 April to Tuesday 31 October Gold Hill Museum will be open to visitors between the hours of 10.30a.m. and 4.30p.m. Newly installed in the centre of Room 8 is a case displaying a fascinating range of objects collected by the Heritage Lottery Funded Shaftesbury and the Great War Community Project. Next door […]

Do You Know These Men?

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A photograph recently acquired by the Heritage Lottery Funded Shaftesbury and the Great War Community Project shows a group of local men, possibly at the Wimborne St Giles camp, who had enlisted in the Dorset Yeomanry. On the left (seated) is Frank Pickford from Melbury Abbas, and behind him is Ernest Foot from Compton Abbas. […]

“I do not think any two boards remained together.”

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Dorchester author Philip Browne gave a graphic account of The Unfortunate Captain Peirce and the Wreck of the Halsewell as The Shaftesbury & District Historical Society’s February lecturer. The Halsewell, an outward bound 800 ton East Indiaman, foundered beneath the sheer cliffs of the Purbeck coast in the early hours of 06 January 1786, in […]

Turn of the Year Exacts Heavy Toll

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A few winter weeks have seen the passing of three strong supporters of The Shaftesbury & District Historical Society. The death of Rachel Caldwell was followed on 28 December by that of Trustee and Treasurer Marjory Kellett (above).  A graduate of Glasgow University, Marjory taught A Level Maths in Hamilton, Carlisle, Sherborne and Shaftesbury, and began […]