Amber, our newly appointed Archives Project Technician, recommences work digitising the fascinating Herbert Collection. She shares some specially selected snapshots of Dorset from times gone by. As one of Dorset History Centre’s newest additions to the team, I find myself with the fascinating privilege of delving through three decades of local Dorset history, as documented pictorially… Read more Delightfully retro festive photography
Inspired by the popular festive song, staff at Dorset History Centre bring you our own version of the Twelve Days of Christmas! On the twelve days of Christmas, my archives gave to me… A parchment in a brown box Dorset History Centre holds over 50,000 acid free boxes in environmentally controlled repositories – each one containing… Read more Twelve days of archive Christmas
The Christmas Truce of 1914 has passed now almost into legend. Great armies engaged on the Western Front in the bloodiest of all wars called a ceasefire and instead came together in a spirit of peace to exchange gifts, play football and sing carols. Diaries held at Dorset History Centre provide a first-hand account of… Read more Christmas Truce recorded in WW1 diary
Many local people are aware that Weymouth was originally two towns; Melcombe Regis to the north of the harbour, and Weymouth to the south. The two communities had an often fractious relationship, usually related to the harbour. If ships moored on the Weymouth side, Weymouth could take the various charges and petty customs when the… Read more A Bridge Between People
Dorset History Centre has a large collection of local studies books, including many rare and unusual volumes. A particular favourite is a wonderful guide to Weymouth that was published around 1799. Royal Visits The guidebook lacks its title page so unfortunately we do not know the author’s name, but it is one of a number… Read more Regency Tourism and King George III in Weymouth
One January morning in 1599, the bodies of two women were discovered in a house in Poole. Newly catalogued records from the Poole Borough Archive shed light on a murder case which dragged on for over 40 years and led to the execution of one man and suspicion cast on a number of possible accomplices.… Read more Revisiting the ‘High Street Murders’ of 1599
The Herbert collection contains numerous photographs of Weymouth pavilion during the 1950s and 1960s, capturing the moments of its demise as ‘the Ritz’ in 1954 and its re-emergence in 1960. Early 20th Century The Pavilion theatre was originally constructed in Weymouth in 1908 at a cost of £14,000. It became a key venue in Weymouth… Read more A photographic history of Weymouth Pavilion
With the help of volunteers, thousands of photographs from the Poole Borough Archive are currently being catalogued. Mostly originating from Poole’s planning department, the photographs range from the mundane (photographs of drainpipes, shop fronts and cracks in walls!) to fascinating images capturing Poole’s recent history. A picture is worth a thousand words…. The images provide… Read more A Snapshot of Poole’s Past
As a coastal town, Poole has always been vulnerable to attack by sea – from the Roman invasion, through the burning of the town by the Spanish in 1405, right up to the Second World War. ‘All my thoughts are directed towards England’ In the early months of the Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815), the whole country… Read more The Napoleonic Invasion Threat
Our Conservator has completed the conservation of a large parchment map belonging to the Shaftesbury Estate. Here she describes the challenges of working with this complex material. As the Conservator at Dorset History Centre, I have the privilege of working on some fascinating and intricate documents, and in 2015 my skills were tested when I… Read more The conservation of Wimborne St Giles parchment map
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