September Newsletter Aug 27Th 2009

Sherborne Museum Newsletter September 2009 Issue 2009/2

MMIX

Chairman’s Letter Sue Taylor introduces this issue of the Newsletter. Welcome to the latest issue of our Newsletter. We hope you will like the new format and enjoy the articles and information in it. We were pleased to see so many of you at the AGM in March and do hope that you enjoyed that evening’s preview of the exhibitions. of interaction between the local community and the Queen’s Gurkha Signallers of Blandford Camp. The At the time of writing it is the end of July so I can evening included dances ranging from traditional only talk about the summer season to date. We Gurkha ones performed by the Signallers (Nepalese have had a large number of visitors, from near and dancers being traditionally male) to modern ones far, and an equally gratifying number of positive influenced by Nepalese themes and performed by comments on the lovely displays prepared by the community dance groups, poetry from local school- Curator and her team of volunteers, as well as on children and poets on the themes of memories, jour- the Museum in general. neys and home and culminated in copious samples of July has been a busy month at the Museum and I delicious Nepalese food. It was a most interesting have found myself involved in several activities evening, a demonstration of both what is best de- outside the Museum building, a welcome relief scribed by the French word “dépaysement” (best from the Council meetings and seemingly intermi- translated as the feeling experienced when one is nable paperwork which seem to be the Chairman’s removed from one’s surroundings or from one’s lot! July 11th was particularly memorable. element) and integration. Both before and after this we were able to study all the elements of the travel- The Friends of Sherborne Abbey, having invited ling exhibition on Nepal and the Gurkhas being the Museum to participate in their event of that day, launched that evening and which Sherborne Museum saw me in the Abbey for most of the day, talking is very pleased to be hosting in October. This is most about the electronic display of the Sherborne Mis- comprehensive and informative and we hope that sal in the Museum and directing visitors to it. I was you will enjoy looking at it when it comes. As I amazed to find that there were local people who drove there and back in heavy rain and through had never been to the Museum and was pleased to standing water on the roads, I wondered how the think that going to see the Missal display would Nepalese enjoyed our weather! introduce them to the delights which are hidden behind the Museum’s façade. Our resident Missal The Curator will be telling you more about July’s specialist, the President, John Firmin, was in the exciting events as well as other events, both past and Museum, with the Missal display, and spent his future. time talking to visitors about it and guiding them in We look forward to seeing you in the Museum, the discovery of the magnificence of this treasure maybe as volunteers, visiting the exhibitions or at- of the British Library. tending the Winter Talks, and hope too that you will Later that day, the Curator being unable to attend, be able to attend the Gerald Pitman Memorial Lec- I was honoured to represent Sherborne Museum at ture where you will find out more about Sherborne’s an evening with the Gurkhas in Blandford. “Return gloving industry. to Dancing Nepal” was an evening of celebration Sue Taylor

1 Sherborne Museum Newsletter September 2009 Issue 2009/2

21st Century Curator these continue to degrade over the years and will only Part 3: Conservation – Not Restoration pass their contaminants on to the item we wish to conserve! Surface rust flakes that have obviously mi- In the third of her series, Judy Nash writes about grated from an item that was once stored near the one how the items in the Museum’s Collection are you have now accepted into the collection can often be cared for. gently lifted to find an uncontaminated enamel beneath I shudder when I hear those words,“Wouldn’t, it that can then be polished. Tool blades also appreciate a be nice if” because they are usually followed by “it light wiping with oil to prevent rust developing. looked better” or “we could do something with it” or “I only did it to make it more like it did when it This does not only apply to newly accepted items. was new”. Under the rolling good housekeeping programme we also constantly review the condition of items in the Most collection items and donations need a little older archive boxes – some of which had not been tender loving care at some time. However what looked at for many years. Woodworm is a major worry you do and how you do it has to be considered and I always isolate suspect items in the workshop and very carefully. treat woodworm with two applications of an approved liquid. Even if it does not appear live it might be after My time is divided between caring for new items many years of storage, and all items removed after and reviewing the condition of existing collection nearly forty years in the loft are treated before either items, especially those in permanent storage that being put on display or being moved to our New Store. are unlikely to be put on display. Many wooden items benefit from a nourishing coat of an approved polish (from the Conservation suppliers Items that are donated could tell a story and often and not the supermarket I hasten to add!) and leather do, simply because of the condition they are in. also can be softened with a similar approved brand. What we are aiming for is stabilisation of an item for future generations to be able to enjoy and not Important items accepted in a poor condition but unlike- restoration to something it is not! ly to ever be able to be displayed are packed in acid free materials in an archive box with the aim of conserving Basic conservation is carried out in line with muse- what you have for future generations to be able to treat um guidelines and usually possible within the when methods may have been developed to enable this museum environment. Induction training and com- to be done in the future. mon sense, a step back and a thoughtful moment are probably all that is needed to deal with the This then comes into Collection Care and Management usual conservation needs of a donation. which looks at storage materials and methods and also deals with security of the items and our duty of care, and The first considerations are:- will be dealt with in the next issue. 1: - should you attempt conservation at all? and Judy Nash, Curator 2: - does the item actually need it? Collection Care and Management will be dealt with in the next newsletter but the first step is always observation.

It then depends on the nature of the item as to how you then proceed.

Paper items often come in with ancient pins piec- ing pages together or rusty paperclips. These are removed as they lead to migration of contaminants to the main part of the donation that you want to preserve. If the item is metal, then rusting binding wire that was placed on at a later date to hold pieces together is also removed. Old yellowing sellotape, elastoplast or even bluetack and plasti- cine are also not wanted for posterity. Many of

2 Sherborne Museum Newsletter September 2009 Issue 2009/2 A Sherborne Industry with over 200 Years’ History Costume Chat In his series on local life hundreds of years ago, John The costume team present us with Firmin looks into the archives and, in this third piece, new displays each year, and this relates how Sherborne made its place in industrial article gives a brief description of history. those of 2009 giving some insight into the thinking behind them. I recently obtained a copy of “An Epitome of English Social History 1700-1935” and was interested to note Our main display this year is enti- that there were entries related to silk and artificial silk. tled Parasols. French Impression- This caught my attention because of our connection ist Posters have been chosen as with the Sherborne Silk Mills and Marglass through the background as in each one there is a painting Freddie Marsden who provided us with our original of a woman with a parasol or um- premises. brella. In the Epitome, it was recorded that John Lombe The model is wearing a late Victo- introduced silk throwing into England in 1718. Stud- rian, blue silk Afternoon Dress, ying Elizabeth Cockburn’s “Sherborne Silk Mills with cream lace trimming. and Marglass” in the Museum Library it appears that there were records of a silk weaver in Sherborne in Underneath the dress is a Crino- 1660 and, in 1753, John Sharer, a silk thrower from line specially made for the Cos- Whitechapel acquired the site, now occupied by P-D tume Department by Bath Interglass. Restoration Center (unhappily no longer in existence). The Crino- So it can be seen that silk-throwing techniques were line adapts to being used as either being practised in Sherborne just thirty-five years a Crinoline or a Bustle. after their introduction to England. Thus, over 250 years ago, Sherborne started on a long industrial The little girl model was acquired ten years ago association which pre-dated the Victorian Industrial and we have adapted it for our displays by Revolution – in the Interglass site there is evidence adding a wig. We have always had problems of one of the oldest industrial units in England. with the child’s feet but this year Jo Middleton Further study of the Epitome revealed that Chardon- made some felt slippers to add authenticity to the net invented a process for producing artificial silk in period of our display. 1884, and Cross and Bevan patented a viscous process for making artificial silk in 1892. The Parasols in our display are only a very small When discussing this with David Tuffin, he passed part of our Collection. me a newspaper cutting from the Museum collection. This was dated 1970 and was an advert put in the We have prepared an additional exhibition dis- Western Gazette by Marglass Ltd. The theme of the playing Spectacles of bygone days in the long piece was “Fabrics to Serve Home and Industry – all case. Particularly of interest are a pair belonging from a handful of marbles”. It pointed out that the to a Mr Tom Poole, a local business-man of first glass fibre was woven by a Venetian, Carlo Riva, Nether Stowey, North Somerset, who had connec- in 1713. It was nearly 200 years later that an evening tions with Sherborne and it is believed he left his gown spun from glass and silk was presented to the spectacles at a friend’s on a visit to Sherborne. Infanta of Spain. Glass fibre started to be used for He was also a friend of Coleridge and Words- decorative furnishing fabrics in addition to industrial worth. purposes in the United States in the 1930s. Glass fibre curtains were introduced into Britain in 1962, As part of our routine work behind the scenes, and large scale production of glass fibre curtaining this year we are cataloguing our collection of started at Marglass in Sherborne in 1963. dresses, with photographs for our files. So it can be seen that this long standing industrial José Wilson, Catherine Baatz and plant in Sherborne has been at the forefront of the Jo Middleton introduction of at least two significant industrial - a very happy team! processes. John Firmin 3 Sherborne Museum Newsletter September 2009 Issue 2009/2 July Open Weekend mine, who are both dedicated to preserving English Tradition through song and dance at Halsway Manor, Judy Nash shares her experiences in setting up this Englands National Centre for Traditional Music, event and recounts the various activities which Dance and Song. There was also the opportunity to took place. see some of the oldest silk garments from the reserve collection with members of the Costume Team and to Following hot on the heels of Setting the Pace, The see more modern items loaned by members of the Launch of the Cultural Olympiad, last autumn Support Team. when we got funding for ‘India in Bloom’, we were fortunate to be offered to bid for the second On Saturday we attracted new audiences with many wave of funding to take part in the National Festi- visitors from abroad and families who had not visited val of Storytelling – London 2012. As always the the museum before. Children enjoyed workshops timescale was tight to apply with a really good idea learning more about the silk cycle and making Chi- that met all the criteria. The free Open Weekends, nese themed masks. giving flexibility to hold events between Friday 24th and Sunday 26th July, were to be friendly Bringing the silk story to life was a worthwhile and family orientated to encourage greater understand- interesting experience – and a sharp learning curve for ing of collections and to link with a foreign culture. all involved owing to the very tight time scale.

‘India in Bloom’, we were told following feedback, Are we taking part again in the lead up to 2012? After was the most successful in the Country, having a couple of days to draw breath and recover, I think offered a rich and varied programme linking Sher- the answer will be yes as I have heard there will be borne watercolourist Diana Ruth Wilson with her another chance to bid for funding next year for phase later life in India after marrying botanist Philip three! Furley Fyson. The link this time was the local silk Judy Nash industry and China and the silk road.

The search began for silk worms, which apparently are in short supply at the moment, and a mulberry bush. The story theme was linked to the legend of the Silk Goddess and the ancient circle dance, “Here we go round the Bramble Bush” which later became the better known Mulberry Bush!

It was more like St. Tiggywinkles for a week not knowing just what was going to arrive in a cardboard box or, in the case of the silkworms, through the letterbox in a plastic bag! Frantic research into the correct conditions to grow them on followed Heard at Reception - and developing the life cycle in an easy way for all All Part of a Steward’s Day ability groups to understand. Sterile cocoons, raw silk and hand dyed cocoons also arrived in the nick Where is the Abbey please? of time and the weekend proved a great success. Is this the Tourist Board? What is a Missal? On Friday evening the background to Sherborne’s Would the Museum be interested in? silk industry was given by Elisabeth Bletsoe, fol- These belonged to my wife. Are there concession charges for entry? lowed by a talk on smuggling by internationally I found this in my daughter's garden. known folk singer Bonny Sartin who is equally Is the curator here? (Often asked) well known for his well researched one man How much is this? shows. He even composed us a new song for the Have you got a town map? occasion and is a keen supporter of the museum I have some old photographs / papers / clothes with his wife Cynthia, a former work colleague of / coins.

4 Sherborne Museum Newsletter September 2009 Issue 2009/2 Harry Patch

You may have noticed the special window display mounted in memory of Harry Patch. This is an appropriate link with this year’s schools’ exhibit, based on the names on the town’s war memorial, which has aroused much interest.

Many visitors have commented on the change of the display window to a tribute to Harry Patch, our last fighting Tommy, who died on Saturday 25th July. I had just returned from our Open Weekend Festival of Although Harry’s book, The Last Fighting Tommy, Storytelling London 2012 event and heard on the is out of print, copies can still be found in remain- news that he had died at Fletcher House, Wells that dered outlets and it will no doubt be reprinted now, morning. I immediately started planning a new win- with proceeds benefitting Harry’s chosen charity dow display with our own Old Comrades Association the RNLI. The first print provided funds to finance Dorset Regiment Standard and copies of my Remem- a new lifeboat, the Doris and Harry, Doris being brance Pack for schools. Harry was sent a pack last his close companion at Fletcher House until her year as I had dedicated it to him. death four years ago. Harry was our last link with trench warfare in the First Copies of the Museum’s Remembrance Pack are World War and in fact the last such veteran worldwide. available in the museum for user groups and can When I first started writing the pack in 2005 there were also be downloaded from the museum’s website twenty-seven veterans worldwide and a number of www.sherbornemuseum.co.uk unsubstantiated claims and now there are only five. Judy Nash, What was so special about Harry was that he did not come from a military background and was a conscript who had no wish to go to war. His background was NEW EXCITING DISCOVERY identical to those of so many from the Sherborne area - SIGNIFICANT FIND who had left for the front having no idea what was awaiting them. He was a pacifist who insisted on Mystery box of pottery sherds found stored in the remembering those on all sides and this will be reflect- museum roof. Never washed nor accessioned so ed at his funeral at Wells Cathedral where privates we do not know the source. They are a very impor- from France, Belgium and Germany will escort his tant collection and the only clues are ‘C Bean 1971’ coffin with six privates from which cannot be proved to be connected and the reformed Duke of Corn- ‘Sherborne Potters Shop’ and ‘kiln area’. One bag wall Regiment in which Harry has a faded ‘14th Century’ written on a scrap of reluctantly served. He was a paper and another ‘15th century’. It is vital to find quiet, private man with very the location of this dig. A working kiln of this strong opinions who kept the magnitude would not have been allowed in the horror of what he had seen to centre of town so where was it located? himself until he turned 100 and spoke out for the first time. It is vital to observe the rule of the 4 x W's - who, what, where and when - and then we would not More locally he is remembered as an employee of E. have problems like these! R. Carter, heating engineers of Yeovil, where he worked as a plumber in the 1950s. I heard more about The Curator is in the process of sorting these finds, Harry from Mr. Carter’s daughter Joy who, with her conserving and giving them the collection care husband John Gear, made Thornford their home in the they deserve before considering mounting a tem- 1950s. I attended the primary school with their daugh- porary exhibition. If anyone can recall a signifi- ters; Mandy was my best friend and sadly died of cant post-war dig please let us know. cancer a decade ago. Judy Nash,

5 Sherborne Museum Newsletter September 2009 Issue 2009/2 The Old Pubs of Sherborne David Tuffin shows how in the Museum one 8 pages. Next I had the idea of searching through the thing can lead to another. ‘Sherborne Terrier’ of 1843, and this gave me another 6 Alehouses with their definite location. Of course we One day, Alec Oxford and I were looking at did not have any photos of these extra pubs on my photos of some old Sherborne pubs, when John report so I had to go around Sherborne again to get Firmin looked in and asked both of us if we pictures of about another 16 to 17 sites of Old Pubs, would like to write up a report on any subject and once again I had to jiggle around all the pages, that we had in our archives, with the ultimate fitting everything in. aim of printing up the reports into pamphlets that could be sold in the Museum Shop. By this time, about 5 or 6 weeks later, I was beginning Obviously the subjects that we chose had to be to get bored with re-arranging my report. So I decided ones that would be of interest to visitors in the that I would finish the report, except for two of the Museum. Pubs for which I did not know the exact location. But then Alec suddenly remembered that in his book on Alec offered to report about the ‘Cinemas in Cheap Street he had come across two more Inns that Sherborne’, and I agreed to write about the ‘Old he had seen mentioned in his research, so these were Pubs of Sherborne’. Little duly entered into the report. This then gave me a total did I know how deeply I of 48 Pubs, Inns and Hotels, and then I added more would be immersing my- pages with a bit of history on Coaching Inns, and self into researching this Pubs, and the timetables of Coaches leaving Sher- subject. borne in various directions during the 1800s. And I finished up with about 12 pages in total. To start with I listed all the David Tuffin pubs that we had on photo, and then added any other pubs and hotels that I could recall from memory, this amounted to some- Sherborne Then and Now thing like 25 to 30 in total. Next I scanned in all the photos we had onto my computer, for I Calendar 2010 wanted to make this a pictorial report with captions for each photo. Of course we did not have old pictures of all the pubs on my list, so I On sale in the Museum shop travelled around Sherborne and captured on cam- era all the Pubs and Hotels that are still in exis- now! £6:50 tence now, and also the buildings that were in £6:50 the place of where some of the older pubs used Beautiful. to exist. After writing the captions and placing the photos into the report, I managed to get 6 photos and their captions onto each page, and they were listed alphabetically. This gave me 5 pages plus another page as a title page. I thought this would be the end of my report until a few days’ later I decided to research all the old Sherborne directories (Kelley’s, Piggott’s and The Post Office), and surprised myself by finding another 10 or 11 Pubs, Taverns and Inns. Luckily the Directories also gave the locations of most of them. These were then entered into my report but, because they were listed alphabetically, I had to rearrange every page, and I ended up, then, with

6 Sherborne Museum Newsletter September 2009 Issue 2009/2

New Exciting Exhibition Coming Soon Passing on our Knowledge Judy Nash invites you to share in another world far Judy Nash offers Museum services. removed from Sherborne but present in Dorset. Members, Council Members, would be volunteers or just want to find out more – there is always on offer a variety of short tours to introduce you to the modern museum world, induction training in museum procedure or an informal session to find out more! Whether you have an item at home that you are Almost two years ago I received an email asking for unsure how to store or an item you would consider expressions of interest in an exhibition that focussed gifting to the museum and want to ensure its safe on the Gurkhas and their close association with storage – we can help. We hold a number of refer- Dorset. Links were forged between The Queens ence books on collection care and identification of Own Royal Signals at Blandford Camp where the artefacts and if we still cannot find the answer you serving Gurkhas were based and the local communi- are looking for we have contacts across the country ty, which resulted in a local performance and exhibi- with people who probably can. tion. Plans were launched through Activate, the dance and theatre development agency for Dorset, The museum world has changed dramatically over Bournemouth and Poole, to take this one step further the last decade and will continue to do so with more to enable a touring exhibition ‘Return to Dancing emphasis on taking the museum out into the commu- Nepal – the Gurkhas in Dorset’ to be formed. nity. I immediately expressed an interest and was delight- For all would be volunteers in all areas of the ed to hear the necessary funding had been secured. museum a CRB check is a requirement. Eight Gurkhas have been working with choreogra- Did you know? - One to one tours are available out pher Subathra Subramaniam, formerly co-founder of hours for people with disabilities or those who of the nationally renowned Angika Dance Company, find it difficult to cope with a crowded environment. to produce a new dance piece that was featured at Also by appointment an extra member of staff can Blandford School Theatre in July as part of the be brought in to accompany disabled visitors during launch celebrations and was attended by our Chair- normal opening hours to ensure they get maximum man. enjoyment from their visit. The project continues to work with local schools Judy Nash throughout the area to raise awareness of Nepalese In Memoriam Culture and the Gurkha presence and we are delight- Anne Holt ed to be the second museum to host the touring exhibition in the Gardner Room for the whole month At the Museum, we were sorry to hear of of October! the death of Anne Holt at the beginning of July. Further details will be announced near the time but I hope members will take the opportunity to come If you remember, Anne wrote an and see it. interesting article on her reminiscences as a Steward in the issue of September 2008. Judy Nash Both Anne and her late husband Oliver were active Members of the Museum and remained involved with it over a long Coming soon period of time. The Garden Archaeology I only met her a few times but the memory Project. Look out for fur- of her warmth, friendliness and interesting ther details in the coming conversation will remain with me, as I’m weeks sure they will with all those who knew her. Sue Taylor

7 Sherborne Museum Newsletter September 2009 Issue 2009/2 The Museum’s New Herbarium - Part 2 As promised in the last issue, Elisabeth Bletsoe and the rather rare and cryptic Herb-paris located in shares with you her discoveries associated with this Honeycomb Woods, once named “devil-in-a-bush” new herbarium and where they have led her. for its single shining black berry. A good proportion When the Sherborne School Herbarium, in two large of the plants come from around Sherborne, while cardboard boxes, finally arrived from Dr. Alan Leslie others come from Wicken Fen, Epping Forest and in Cambridge just before Christmas, I gave it a curso- Norfolk or Suffolk. ry examination and felt convinced, on the whole, that During my work on the Herbarium I noticed that one it was not, as had been hoped, the Wilsons’ handi- of the contributors who had signed his name was work. (A collection of Diana Ruth Wilson’s beautiful Clephan Palmer, friend of the Wilson family and botanical drawings is on prominent display in the mentioned by Diana in a letter to Oliver Holt. I asked Marsden Room, along with many details of her fasci- Dr. Leslie about it and he replied it was a vital clue nating life which started in Sherborne where her that he had somehow forgotten. He reported it to a Mr. father was a housemaster at Sherborne School.) The Rob Lloyd who was biology teacher during Leslie’s handwriting was only superficially similar and, more own time at the school, and he found an account of importantly, the dates weren’t right. The earliest of Palmer and recounted a very brief history. Clephan’s the specimens dates back to 1911, several years after father was a Major in the Indian army who saw the Wilsons left Sherborne for Uploders. service at Lucknow and attended Sherborne School I felt briefly disappointed but then I remembered that during the 1850s. He died in 1940. Clephan both the Herbarium was fascinating in its own right, it attended the School and taught biology there and his would still complement the botanical drawings and son in turn was also a pupil at Lyon House in the late the Museum houses nothing else like it. It consisted 1920s, while he himself was on the staff. In later life of about twenty original cardboard document wallets, he married a younger woman with the delightful each containing from a dozen to over thirty species name of Philadelphia Monro and they lived on The folders grouped into botanical families. These were Avenue in Sherborne. She was a keen gardener with all in very good condition. There were, in addition, an interest in local flora and she had even given Dr. over 100 loose species folders contributed by Dr. Leslie some of her own botanical books while he was Leslie, which are now conserved within new drop- studying at the School. Mr. Lloyd thinks that he leaf boxes. might also be able to establish connections with the other areas from which the specimens were collected. I ordered numerically the species folders within each of the wallets, which are also numbered. There are Dr. Alan Leslie himself attended the School during many gaps, for whatever reason. Dust and small the late 60s and early 70s and then spent six years at fragments of loose plant material were carefully Cambridge where his PhD focused on the taxonomy brushed away, while a list of contents was compiled of a woodland buttercup. He worked as a botanist for for ease of reference. Accession numbers have been the RHS at Wisley in 1978 while living in his family allotted and stored on the computer. I intend to photo- home in Guildford. He currently lives in Cambridge graph the whole collection so that it can be accessed and, while still very much involved with plant nomen- without disturbing the original; this would be for the clature, has also published a checklist for the Flora of serious student only. Surrey and is working on a new Flora of Cambridge. While he was in the Sixth form at Sherborne School The specimens are remarkably robust; I opened a he was asked by Rob Lloyd to check over the Herbar- folder marked Tilia Europea (Lime Tree) and was ium for accuracy (there are lots of pencilled amend- immediately transported by the fragrance of the vola- ments and exclamations) and it was at this time that tile oils contained by the flowers. I could well imag- he added his own specimens. ine that sunny summer afternoon in pre-war Britain on the 3rd of July 1913 when they were gathered. Some samples from the Herbarium are now on dis- Other notable plants so far in my examination in- play in a small case by the Wilson collection, with the clude the Aquilegia purloined from the Headmaster’s relevant drawing by Diana alongside, together with garden, the Dyers’ Greenweed found in Thornford informative text. (this was used as a dye plant from at least the 10th Elisabeth Bletsoe century for producing a yellow colour in wool, which later can become green with the application of woad)

8 Sherborne Museum Newsletter September 2009 Issue 2009/2 The Gerald Pitman Memorial Lecture 2009 We are pleased to announce this year’s lecture, which will be held in the Catholic Church Hall, Westbury, Sherborne at 2.30pm. Open to all, tickets (including tea) will be available from the Museum or at the door: price £3.50 (£1.00 for students). Saturday October 24 2009 ‘A lost Sherborne industry: Adam Stewart and Son Ltd, Glove Manufacturers 1855-1961’ Tom Stewart Gloving was once an important part of Sherborne’s economy in which Tom Stewart’s family played an important role. We look forward to learning much more about this; a manufactory set up in the decade of the 1850s which saw something of a social revolution in the town in the installation of mains water and sewerage, the building of the Abbey School and the coming of the railway. It survived into the 1960s, still well within living memory.

Booking slips for the Gerald Pitman Memorial Lecture and for the Winter Talks can be found on page 11. 100 Club Sue Taylor gives the latest news on this fund-raising venture. Many thanks to all of you who sent back the “expression of interest” form in the March 2009 issue of the Newsletter. Your feedback was most valuable and will enable us to decide how best this scheme might be operated. Setting up such a scheme is not simple and we are inevitably bound by regulations, but we hope to finalise the arrangements for its operation before too long Subsequently, all those who have expressed interest will be notified, a poster will be put in the Museum and leaflets will be available for any others who might wish to participate. We hope that this will generate a regular income to boost Museum funds which are always in need.

Education Over the last three years grant aid from Renaissance South West and the MLA has enabled the Museum to set up a number of loans boxes for Schools. The boxes are available for a period up to half a term covering many topics including: Romans, Edwardians, Victorians, World War I, World War II and Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

9 Sherborne Museum Newsletter September 2009 Issue 2009/2 Sherborne Museum Winter Talks Series, 2009-2010

We hope that you will find this season’s talks, again kindly arranged by Katherine Barker, both entertaining and interesting.

Monday 2 November Canon Eric Woods - ‘Too fond of boating and billiards: some readings from the early life of the Reverend Edward Harston’ In October 2007, Canon Eric Woods gave a Sherborne House lecture on his predecessor, Edward Harston, Vicar of Sherborne, 1854-1868. Harston was one of a group of immensely energetic men who transformed the face of Sherborne at that time. He completed the restoration of the Abbey, cleared the Close, founded the Town Cemetery in Lenthay, built the Abbey Primary School in Horsecastles and (with others) established the Yeatman Hospital. Now Canon Woods has discovered Harston’s great great granddaughter – possessor of a slim handwritten account by Harston of his early years. It is a fascinating insight into the making of a remarkable and controversial man, and Canon Woods will be sharing with us some of the key passages.

Monday 7 December Alec Oxford - ‘The Shops in Cheap Street; a History’ Alec needs little introduction to members of the Museum; his Known History of the Shops of Cheap Street is the first of its kind and breaks a lot of new ground. It will be a pleasure to hear him speak about his research. He writes, ‘As we all know, Cheap Street remains a street with its own special character although the number of independent shops decreases. Whilst not unique, there is a diminishing number like it and few where similar research has been done. There are ninety three shops so this talk will deal with the known history of a few of the more interesting ones.’ We much look forward to learning more.

Monday 11 January Giles Harvey - ‘The Coming of the Railway to Sherborne’ Next year – 2010 – sees the 150th anniversary of the coming of the Railway to Sherborne in 1860. It was the Rev Harston – subject of Canon Woods’ talk - who gave the Sermon to mark its opening on 7 May. The first train left at 6.30am amid great festivities. Not only was rail travel incredibly fast, it was cheap; 40p to London in 2 hours as against £3.00 and 12 hours by mail coach. ‘The coming of the railway’ Giles Harvey writes ‘is one of amazing perseverance against all the odds. The Salisbury and Yeovil railway was finally completed in 1860 and was to become one of the country’s most profitable railways. Sherborne solicitor and owner of theSherborne Journal Louis Ruegg played a key part in defeating opposition of landowners and warring rival railway companies to finally achieve the railway that the town had been fighting for nearly 20 years.

Monday 1 February Katherine Barker - ‘The Joseph Conrad School, 1948-1949, in Sherborne Park’ Some people in Sherborne know that during World War II there was an American Military Hospital in the Park but few know that after the War the hospital was converted into a school for Polish people in exile seeking accessto Higher Education in the UK. Former students still meet for reunions. As part of the Sherborne Douzelage conference in June 2005 the writer was invited by Krisya Griffith-Jones to research the story of this lost piece of Sherborne’s history. The result was mounted in a small exhibition in the Digby Hall and attracted a lot of interest. This talk will afford an opportunity to share it with Members with a view to presenting this unique material to the Museum.

Monday 1 March Mary Hickman - ‘From Stench to Sewer: the Sherborne Public Health Report of 1850’ The state of Sherborne in 1850 has to be read to be believed. Having inherited no effective local government after the Dissolution, there was no proper sewerage and water came from wells. In Half Moon Street ‘a small gutter . . . goes through the premises of William Dingley and at times the stench in intolerable.’ On Greenhill ‘the house drains discharge through the wall . . . in George Street there is an offensive dung heap . . . the top of Cheap Street shares a single stinking cess pit and an open pool of night-soil ‘oozes through the walls’ of Rookery Court in Newland. There were four slaughter houses in the town ‘which it was desirable to move out of it.’ Mary Hickman will explore the making of the world we now take too easily for granted.

10 Sherborne Museum Newsletter September 2009 Issue 2009/2 BOOKING SLIPS

The Gerald Pitman Memorial Lecture 2009 - Saturday 24 October Please forward me ….. ticket(s) for ‘A lost Sherborne industry: Adam Stewart and Son Ltd, Glove Manufacturers 1855-1961’, by Tom Stewart. (The Gerald Pitman Memorial lecture is open to all.) 2.30pm in the Catholic Church Hall, Westbury. Tea included. Name(s) …………………………………………………….… Telephone ……………….………….... Address …………………………………………………………………………………………………. Ticket price: £3.50, Students £1.00. Tickets available from the Museum or at the Door. Cheques are payable to “Sherborne Museum Association”; please include SAE if booking by post.

Winter Talks Series on Monday afternoons - with tea and biscuits These talks, held in the Museum, are open to Members only and start at 2.30pm. There is no charge but numbers have to be restricted to 25 so tickets will be issued on a ‘first come first served basis’. Please address your requests for tickets to the Hon Secretary at the Museum, Abbey Gatehouse, Sherborne DT9 3BP; please include a SAE if they need posting.

Please forward me ….. ticket(s) for Monday 2 November Canon Eric Woods - ‘Too fond of boating and billiards: some readings from the early life of the Reverend Edward Harston’ Name(s) …………………………………………………….… Telephone ……………….………….... Address ………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Please forward me ….. ticket(s) for Monday 7 December Alec Oxford - ‘The Shops in Cheap Street; a History’ Name(s) …………………………………………………….… Telephone ……………….………….... Address ………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Please forward me ….. ticket(s) for Monday 11 January Giles Harvey - ‘The Coming of the Railway to Sherborne’ Name(s) …………………………………………………….… Telephone ……………….………….... Address ………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Please forward me ….. ticket(s) for Monday 1 February Katherine Barker - ‘The Joseph Conrad School, 1948-1949, in Sherborne Park’ Name(s) …………………………………………………….… Telephone ……………….………….... Address ………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Please forward me ….. ticket(s) for Monday 1 March Mary Hickman - ‘From Stench to Sewer: the Sherborne Public Health Report of 1850’ Name(s) …………………………………………………….… Telephone ……………….………….... Address ………………………………………………………………………………………………….