On 21 May 1471 the last of the Lancastrian kings, Henry VI, was murdered in the Tower of London. If Henry were not the worst, he must have been the unluckiest of English kings. On his watch England lost the Hundred Years’ War with France and was convulsed in the Wars of the Roses. Henry […]
Or so the postmark said on today’s letters. “(Sir) Robert Walpole enters office as first UK Prime Minister 300 years ago 4 April 1721.” Walpole himself would have denied it. He did so explicitly in 1741, when he had held office continuously for 20 years. “I unequivocally deny that I am sole and prime minister.” […]
Bristol-based professional video maker Chris McComish was flying his camera-carrying drone to capture footage of the stunning views from Shaftesbury on a sunny Friday morning. He has been commissioned to make a short promotional video on behalf of Gold Hill Museum. (Now available to view here) The Trustees felt that there couldn’t be a better […]
Dorset Council has recently bought the former St Mary’s School for £10.05 million. Though described as Jacobean in style, Coombe House is not regarded as an historic building. It was built in 1886 (architect E.T. White) about a mile to the east of Shaftesbury, just inside Wiltshire, for Mark Hanbury Beaufoy (1854-1922), a wealthy vinegar […]
On 27 January 1921 Sir Merton Russell-Cotes died. In the course of a long and colourful life he had risen from humble beginnings to possess a fortune (most of which was given away to charitable causes), a flagship Bournemouth hotel, a significant art collection which filled a purpose-built clifftop villa, a knighthood, and a double-barrelled […]
Cafe proprietors – and there are several excellent Shaftesbury venues within a couple of minutes’ walking distance of Gold Hill Museum – need have no fear of added competition. The Tudor Tea Rooms in question are no more than three feet high. They were hand-built by a Dolls’ House enthusiast and fitted with exquisitely detailed […]
A newly-minted blue plaque, the first to recognise the life and contribution of a Shaftesbury individual, has been delivered to Gold Hill Museum, the HQ of The Shaftesbury & District Historical Society. John Rutter, the subject of the plaque, was a doughty campaigner for the extension of democracy, the abolition of slavery, and the improvement […]
On 25 November 2020 local historian Christina Richard wrote: ‘It’s a miserable wet morning in Tisbury and it’s worth remembering that 190 years ago to the day, local agricultural workers rioted to draw attention to their appalling low wages – 7s per week. Common land had already been enclosed locally, taking away their right to […]
In late August 2020 volunteer Chris Stupples posted his thousandth biographical entry on the Shaftesbury Remembers the Great War website. The Project, inspired by Claire Ryley and Ann Symons of The Shaftesbury & District Historical Society, began with a modest Heritage Lottery Fund grant in 2015. Chris toured the War Memorials of Shaftesbury and the […]
