Dorset Books

(Debby Rose)  The book shows how an important harbour since the 14th century became one of the most popular seaside resorts in the country. Historic photographs and modern pictures of the same location show how the town has changed over…..

(Roger Guttridge)  With the help of the Gold Hill Museum archive, the author takes a fascinating look at how Shaftesbury?s streets, buildings and enterprises have changed over the years, highlighting what they meant to its citizens. The town grew up…..

(Eric Olsen)  This diverse collection of 200 archive images has been selected to create a lively visual chronicle of Shaftesbury over the last 100 years. This hilltop Dorset town has gently absorbed the transitions of industry, and these old photographs…..

(Michael Hanson)  Castleton?s population in 1901 was a quarter of its 1831 peak, primarily due to the building of the Sherborne section of the London to Exeter railway. This book looks in detail at the residents during this period, and…..

(Cynthia Walcot)  Beatrice was born in Shropshire, settled to live in Sherborne Castle, Dorset, and lived through a dramatic siege during the Civil War.  She died in 1758, aged 84, and is buried in Sherborne Abbey. The book is the…..

(Steve Wallis)  A fascinating selection of over 180 photographs traces some of the many ways in which Dorchester and nearby villages have changed over the last century. The pictures are arranged in a ‘then and now’ fashion, so that direct…..

(Steve Wallis)  A fascinating glimpses of old and new Dorchester highlighting the changing face of the town over a hundred years of the 20th century. Includes over 200 photographs. 144 pages.  Hardback.

(Brian Bates)  From 18 German civilians who arrived in Dorchester on 10 August 1914, this prisoner of war camp expanded to house 3,447 men in 113 huts by the end of 1915. This book shows what life was like inside…..

(Robert Nantes)  In the late 1820s John Slade borrowed heavily in order to set up as a Maltster and Brewer in Sherborne. Within a few years he was bankrupt and subsequently fled Sherborne. 24 pages.  Soft covers.

(Ed Terry Hearing & Sarah Bridges) Dorset Record Society Vol 14.  Consists of 642 numbered folios plus some additional sheets. The Order Book is the earliest available for the County of Dorset, and no other documents concerning Quarter Sessions for…..

(Marie de G Eedle and Raymond E Paul).  An alternative title might be: ‘Beaminster and its Apparitions Extraordinary of AD 1728’. The idea for this book arose out of research done by the Beaminster Community Play Research Team, a group…..

(Rodney Legg)  Tells the story on a daily basis, from the threat of German invasion during the hot summer of 1939, through radar research and the secret war, to the arrival of the US Army and the cross-channel sea and…..

(David Beaton)  The story of more than 100 Dorset men and women whose exceptional courage or outstanding qualities make them true heroes. 128 pages.  Soft covers.

(Ian Fox)  This book presents a light-hearted look at Dorset’s loos of yesteryear with local anecdotes and photographs of those buildings still standing. It is fully illustrated. 96 pages.  Soft covers.

(Roger Guttridge)  The country clergyman who eloped with a parishioner’s wife … the stranded whale that became a tourist attraction on a Dorset beach … the spinster who kept her companion’s body for almost three years without reporting her death……

(Dr Andrew Norman)  An attractive yet simple medieval house, its former inhabitants include figures who have made outstanding contributions in the fields of architecture, art and sculpture.  Their contributions have been not just of local importance but of national, and…..