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The SDFHS Blog

The Royal Tombs of Great Britain

Posted on 11th May 2014

We had a real treat yesterday when Dr Aidan Dodson of Bristol University came to our Research Centre at Sherborne and gave two fascinating and informative talks under the heading of The King is Dead: the royal tombs of Great Britain Aidan’s first talk started with the Saxon kings of Wessex and included, of course, Sherborne Abbey’s own burials of Ethelbald (died 860) and Ethelbert (died 866), older brothers of Alfred the Great Many of the pre-Reformation royal tombs were destroyed during... more

The Greenwood Tree May 2014

Posted on 26th April 2014

Bob Barber gives a preview of the next edition of the Greenwood Tree We start the May edition of The Greenwood Tree in seasonal mode with an account by Maureen Bowler of the social history of the celebrations of May Day This brings back grim memories for me of having to learn country dances at school, but the folk customs surrounding May Day spread much wider Bob Evered has unearthed a very nice etching of St George’s church Dunster by Elizabeth Piper, an etcher and painter... more

The Deacon Family of Basket Makers

Posted on 21st April 2014

I have a collection of baskets that were made by members of the Deacon family in the village of Nether Compton in Dorset and all are around seventy years old Luckily my father looked after them and I now have the pleasure of using them around the house where I enjoy them and the memories they bring back I also find it satisfying to use the modern day versions and I have a laundry basket, waste paper baskets and kitchen storage baskets all in regular use This interest led me to visit the unique... more

‘The Bishop, the Devil and the Boot’ – Katherine Barker’s reading of Sherborne Museum’s medieval wall painting

Posted on 24th March 2014

Early in March, the SDFHS Research Centre hosted a talk by Katherine Barker for the Sherborne Museum Association on a medieval wall painting discovered in 1962 during renovations to a house in Sherborne Katherine has very kindly enlarged on her original note describing the talk, to enable us to provide a more thorough record of her investigations: - The house was ‘Tudor Rose’ in Long Street and the painting, found during the removal of what was discovered to be a heavily papered-over... more

Upcoming Events in Sherborne

Posted on 12th March 2014

In addition to the (usually monthly) talks organized by our 10 Groups throughout Somerset and Dorset (see http://wwwsdfhsorg/groups/) we now have a very full programme of Members' events at our Research Centre in Sherborne Full details of all these events (and others later in the year) and a downloadable booking form are on our website: http://wwwsdfhsorg/events/sdfhs-events/ but here are those upcoming between March and the end of May Starting on Wednesday 19 March (7-9pm), the SDFHS... more

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