archives

Icen Cottage – The Masters Family – Too Many John Masters!

This is the third blog on the history of Icen Cottage in Fordington. In our previous blog concerning Icen Cottage we mentioned a bundle of documents concerning the transfer of the Copyhold of a cottage and garden in Fordington known as Dolls Hole and later as Icen Cottage. In that blog we wrote about Ambrose… Read more Icen Cottage – The Masters Family – Too Many John Masters!

Tell us what you think of Dorset History Centre!

Dorset History Centre (DHC) was constructed in 1991.  Since then, it has provided an excellent, purpose-built home for the county’s archival and local studies resources – with records spanning well over 1000 years.  The service manages a wealth of material in a wide variety of formats both physical and digital which provide evidence of our… Read more Tell us what you think of Dorset History Centre!

The Wild West Comes to Dorchester! (Part 3)

In two previous blogs we looked at the excitement surrounding Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show in Dorchester in 1904 before it arrived; and then how the day of the show unfolded. As seen in the previous two blogs the Dorset County Chronicle reported extensively on the show, detailing its arrival, the show itself and its… Read more The Wild West Comes to Dorchester! (Part 3)

Icen Cottage – The Earliest Documents

This is the second blog on the history of Icen Cottage in Fordington, looking at the earliest documents we hold concerning the cottage. If you have missed the first blog, giving an introduction to Icen Cottage, we’d recommend you give that a read first! In the collection of Andrews, Son and Huxtable Solicitors of Dorchester… Read more Icen Cottage – The Earliest Documents

Pimperne Churchyard’s Ghostly Severed Hand

Despite his surname, trumpet-sergeant Blandford came from the North Dorset village of Pimperne. So, when in 1780 he was posted to Blandford, he was delighted to renew acquaintances with his old chums. A popular character around the village, he was known for his dry sense of humour. Like his Pimperne pals, Blandford had a lucrative… Read more Pimperne Churchyard’s Ghostly Severed Hand