Earlier this year, we came across a curious diary in our library here at Dorset History Centre. Written in 1872, Our Journal at Winterbourn St. Martins is a personal diary written by a Miss Berry Dallas during her visit to Dorset. Joined by her younger sister Helen, Berry stayed with Major Charles Clapcott and his… Read more “Our Journal at Winterbourn St. Martins”: An Introduction
Hello, As the first month of 2025 concludes, we felt it was a good time to share with you our retrospective look at 2024 and the work delivered by the Archives and Records Service. What is very clear to us is that despite the ubiquity of digital material and services through which to view it,… Read more 2024: A Year in Review
Last autumn, Jacqui Halewood, Dorset History Centre’s long-standing Principal Archivist retired. We were joined in November by Claire Skinner, stepping into the role with us, and in today’s blog we wanted to introduce you to Claire… — January is traditionally a time both to look back and to look forwards. I would therefore like to… Read more Introducing our new Principal Archivist
At Dorset History Centre, we were recently donated a collection of photographs taken by a local amateur photographer, Gordon Slade. Gordon Slade recorded images of Dorchester and Dorset between the 1960s and 2000s. He photographed many images of Dorchester, Poundbury, and surrounding areas of Dorset as it changed and developed over the years. This included… Read more Photographs of Dorchester by Gordon Slade
This blog started when a recent enquiry led us to look further into the subject of intruder clergymen, who were appointed to Parishes, sometimes against the will of the congregations, at the end of the English Civil War to preach the more puritan form of worship the Cromwell wanted. They were often then forced out… Read more The Chaplyns of Wareham
Everyone at Dorset History Centre would like to wish all of our customers, readers and supporters a very Merry Christmas, and a happy and peaceful New Year. — Should you wish to visit us over Christmas, our opening hours over the festive period are as follows: We look forward to welcoming you to Dorset History… Read more Merry Christmas!
This Christmas, Project Archivist Ruth Burton and National Trust Intern Emma Allen-White have been looking for all things festive in the Thomas Hardy archive. In Under the Greenwood Tree, Thomas Hardy wrote one of the most vivid and evocative descriptions of Christmas Eve and Christmas morning in fiction. The book begins: ‘On a cold and… Read more Merry Christmas from the Thomas Hardy Archive!
It’s nearly that time of year when we meet up with family, eat far too much food and take photos of each other wearing hideous lovely festive jumpers in front of the tree. Nowadays there will no doubt be digital photos, but what about all those old family photographs filling up space in your home?… Read more Caring for Your Photographs at Home
Following the success of our previous Collections Fortnight, held in January 2024, staff at Dorset History Centre recognised that there is an ongoing need to spend two weeks each year working on many behind-the-scenes things that we cannot otherwise do when we are open to the public. We also learned that January is not an… Read more Collections Fortnight: December 2024
Continuing our look at life in the village of Sydling St Nicholas in 1947, these images and annotations tell us of the excellent relationship with the County Medical Officer’s team of health visitors. The health visitors would give advice to expectant and mothers of young children and would undertake health checks on the little ones.… Read more Life Through a Lens: A Post-War Dorset Village (Part 2)
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