Explore the Treves Trail – a walking trail in Dorchester which gradually reveals information about the life of Sir Frederick Treves. 175 years of rural healthcare DCH175 has been a Heritage Lottery Funded project to commemorate the 175th anniversary of the founding of Dorset’s county hospital. Such a significant institution touches many lives, and its history… Read more Trailing Treves
“Take Your Time” was a Health and Wellbeing Legacy funded project which aimed to improve well-being for those living with dementia.
Dorset History Centre (DHC) had a Reminiscence Worker, funded for 9 months by the Olympic Legacy Fund. (more…)
Recently catalogued documents from the Poole Borough collection reveal historic attitudes to public punishment. The Tudor period was a bad time to be a criminal! Death sentences could be handed out for everything from murder to theft and even begging. In an era when public executions were common, and even seen as a form of entertainment, punishments… Read more Poole’s Pillory
Records in the Borough of Poole archive reveal details of the first policemen to be employed in the town, including their uniforms, expected conduct and rewards. A paid police force Organised crime prevention has existed for centuries, beginning with the early night watchmen and parish constables appointed by Justices of the Peace and other town… Read more Law and order in Poole
Our Archives Project Technician, Amber, continues her journey into the Herbert Photographic Collection. She discovers the surprisingly labour-intensive processes behind transporting Portland limestone off the island in the 1960s (reference: D-HBT/5275). Today, the process of moving, lifting and carrying quarried stone is a relatively simple affair: forklifts, conveyors and front end loaders make easy work… Read more A special shipment of Portland stone
Our archivist working on the Poole Borough Archive sheds some light on her daily activities. A dual role I have two roles at Dorset History Centre – from Monday to Wednesday I am the Project Archivist responsible for sorting and cataloguing the Poole Borough Archive. This is quite a job as the collection includes over 1500… Read more A day in the life of a cataloguing archivist
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
A generous grant means that Poole’s historic archive of more than 1,600 boxes of parchment and paper covering 800 years can be catalogued.
The National Archives and contributions from a range of other supporters has resulted in funding of £34,867. The archive contains written records of the town’s history ranging from its founding charter in 1246 to the current unitary authority.
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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
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
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