A new exhibition for 2016 created by Librarian and Archivist Ray Simpson tells the story of two local workhouses. In 1834 Parliament was keen to cut the welfare bill and the Poor Law Amendment Act abolished the practice of giving outdoor relief to the able-bodied poor. Recipients of welfare now had to enter the workhouse, […]
“Shaftesbury” was one of the Southern Railway Company’s “West Country” class of steam locomotives. She hauled trains across the South and West from 1946 to 1963, and was scrapped at the British Railways works in Eastleigh in 1964. One of her two name-plates was presented to Shaftesbury Borough Council in 1964 by former BR Works Manager Mr […]
Gold Hill Museum re-opens on Saturday 19 March with many new items on display. The main temporary exhibition features a selection of breathtakingly beautiful Ladies’ Fans from the 19th and early 20th centuries. The history of their use is explained, together with their secret language. It could be that Sheena Commons (left) and Margaret Baxter are signalling “Follow […]
Biffo the Gargoyle has taken up residence in the Museum Garden. At least the Head Gardener thinks that he “bears” [groan] some resemblance to the one-time cover star of the children’s comic, the “Beano”. Biffo was carved and donated by Gordon Blackwell from Blandford. Gordon has been a great contributor to our Heritage Lottery Funded […]
Over 30 Dorset Mayors and their consorts visited Gold Hill Museum on the afternoon of Sunday 21 February. They were the guests of Shaftesbury Mayor and Mayoress Richard and Karen Tippins during their Civic Day, and had previously visited Swan’s Yard, the Arts Centre, Trinity Grounds, and the Heritage Snowdrop Collection at the Abbey Museum. […]
The opportunity to uncover Family History with the help of experienced researchers via the Ancestry website has been snapped up. Claire Ryley and Ann Symons organised the Ancestry Afternoon at Shaftesbury Library on Friday 26 February from 1.30 to 3.00p.m. under the aegis of The Shaftesbury & District Historical Society’s Heritage Lottery Funded Great War Project. All the […]
In conjunction with Shaftesbury Library, Claire Ryley and Ann Symons are running a Reminiscence Afternoon on Tuesday 23 February from 2.30 to 3.30p.m. Participants in this free event at Shaftesbury Library will be able to discover more about life in Shaftesbury and the surrounding villages at the time of the First World War. There will […]
Take refuge from February’s biting winds in the light and warmth of Gold Hill Museum. Bring a young family member to one of the snowdrop-themed craft workshops on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday morning, 16-18 February. Learn how to make a Dorset Button at one of Anna McDowell’s expert tutorials on Friday morning or Saturday afternoon, […]
Jane Ellis-Schon brought a tiny sample of the 15,000 objects in Salisbury Museum’s Pitt-Rivers Collection to her compelling and comprehensive February lecture at Gold Hill Museum. In 1880 Augustus Henry Lane-Fox inherited the Pitt-Rivers title and 27,000 acres of Wiltshire estates from his great-uncle. Already a serving soldier in the Grenadier Guards, Pitt-Rivers applied his […]
Anna McDowell, seen here [left] with her cousin Catherine Erskine planting snowdrops in the Gold Hill Museum garden in October, returns for two Dorset Button-making workshops on Friday 19 February 10.30a.m. – 1.00p.m. and Saturday 20 February 2.00 – 4.30p.m. Participants will leave with their own Dorset Singleton Button featuring snowdrops or a Dorset Cartwheel Button […]
