An expert in Britain’s historic guildhalls is crediting her Child Okeford childhood and local history teachers for her successful academic career. Dr Kate Giles, from the University of York, will talk about the opening up of Stratford-upon-Avon’s Guildhall, where Shakespeare went to school, during her Gold Hill Museum lecture on 06 February. “Growing up in Dorset you’re surrounded by the past. I used to go looking for prehistoric pottery on Hambledon Hill,” Kate said.
Kate, who is now a senior history lecturer at York University, says she felt at home when she arrived in the city. “I went to York, which seemed like a big version of Shaftesbury. I fell in love with the historic buildings there, such as the Minster. I became the cathedral archaeology fellow for ten years,” Kate explained. “When you are choosing your degree you don’t know where it is going to take you. I didn’t think I would end up in academia but I did want to know more about buildings. It was a natural progression,” Kate surmised.
Kate says that she is grateful to her Sturminster Newton High School history teacher, Norman Damerell, whose creative approach proved highly engaging. “He used characters and story telling,” Kate recalled fondly. “He was a great impressionist and used to bring all characters from the past to life. People couldn’t wait for his history lessons,” Kate laughed.
Shaftesbury was the logical choice for Kate’s ‘A’ levels. Sturminster Newton did not have a Sixth Form then, and Shaftesbury offered a curriculum focused on the Tudors and Stuarts. “I was inspired by another history teacher, Ian Kellett, who used visual images of Renaissance art and architecture,” Kate said.
“The 15th and 16th centuries seemed a time of really interesting change,” said Kate. “In the medieval period Shaftesbury and its abbey were at the centre of an amazing, powerful network of patronage and religious life.” The medieval guildhall was replaced in 1569 by a newer structure standing in the middle of the High Street. The current building was built in the 19th century.
“One of the wonderful things about these buildings is that they were so flexible,” Kate explained. “Guildhalls were built in our smaller towns in the 14th and 15th centuries. They were not only centres of government and trade but also the hub of community life, such as music, dancing and feasting,” said Kate. The Reformation radically altered the religious framework across England. “If guildhalls had a link with a craft guild or a town council, as was the case with Shaftesbury, then they survived. If the religious guild disappeared, those buildings were often converted into houses,” Kate stated.
Kate’s talk will centre on a £1.4 million project to open up Shakespeare’s schoolhouse, the Guildhall in Stratford-upon-Avon. She’ll offer her thoughts on how the building might have influenced the Bard. Kate promises that you don’t need knowledge of the Warwickshire town in order to enjoy her session. “Shakespeare is somebody that everybody can relate to,” said Kate. She says that the talk will allow attendees to learn how the buildings in which he lived and went to school developed his imagination.
Kate’s Shaftesbury & District Historical Society lecture takes place at Gold Hill Museum on Tuesday 06 February at 2.30pm. It’s free to Society members. Non-members can pay £3 at the door.

Members and Trustees of The Shaftesbury & District Historical…

A former Lord Mayor of London will present his research into two local landowners who enjoyed influence and massive wealth, before a sex scandal forced one of them into exile. Next month Gold Hill Museum is hosting Sir John Stuttard’s talk on the 18th century lives of Alderman William Beckford and his son William.
“Both of them were the wealthiest commoners in England in the 18th century,” said Sir John. “One was a great politician and the other was the greatest fine art collector of all time.” As a former Lord Mayor of London Sir John became interested in Alderman Beckford, who held that position twice.
Alderman Beckford, the father, was elected MP for Shaftesbury in 1747 but, unlike today’s politicians, he would have had little contact with townspeople. Shaftesbury’s parliamentary seat was termed ‘a rotten borough’, where the wealthy or the aristocracy effectively decided who was elected and how they voted in parliament.
Beckford was politically savvy though and saw an opportunity with the growing movement for political reform. “The Alderman’s three addresses to George III were all about the King abolishing parliament and preventing these rotten boroughs. Yet, earlier, Beckford had been elected as an MP to a rotten borough. He is an enigma,” mused John.
Alderman Beckford’s free trade ideals made him very popular in the City of London, and that’s why he’s the only Lord Mayor with his own statue. But Beckford’s liberal views might seem at odds with the source of his wealth – Jamaican sugar plantations.
If tabloid newspapers had existed in the 18th century, the lifestyle of the Alderman’s son William would probably have filled the front pages.
“He was bisexual,” John explained. “He had a relationship with a boy who was eight years younger than he was. There was a scandal associated with letters that he wrote to the boy. He was shunned by the aristocracy,” said John. “He was about to be offered a barony but he didn’t get a peerage.”
Beckford went into voluntary exile to Portugal. When he returned to Fonthill he began constructing a stately home that would reflect his immense wealth.
Fonthill Abbey sported a 90 metre-high tower, briefly. The structure collapsed due to construction problems. Very little of Beckford’s grand country home has survived. Eventually Beckford had to sell his entire art collection and the Fonthill Estate.
“He blew a huge fortune,” said John. “It was his money and he spent it.”
Sir John Stuttard will give his illustrated talk on The Two Beckfords of Fonthill at Gold Hill Museum on Tuesday 05 December at 2.30p.m. Lectures are free to members and admission for visitors is £3, on the door.

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) and explained by Project leaders (from left to right) Ann Symons, Claire Ryley and Chris Stupples. Heritage Lottery Funding and a huge amount of voluntary effort have gone into creating an archive of the stories of people commemorated on 25 local war memorials and of information about contemporary life in Shaftesbury and district. Participants also enjoyed tea and cake, and were able to view folders of stories, documents and artefacts collected by the Project. Work continues to find details about individuals hard to identify, and to input the stories of those who came back.