Clubs and Societies – Page 19

Warminster History Society Took An Evening Stroll Around The Stourhead Estate

A report by Danny Howell. First published in Warminster And District Archive magazine, number four, May 1990:

An Evening Stroll About The Stourhead Estate

About 30 members of the Warminster History Society took an evening stroll about the Stourhead Estate on Wednesday 7th June 1989. History Society member Chris Bubb, who is a gardener on the Estate, acted as guide and escorted the party on a four mile walk to parts that the general public do not usually see. On route he explained many of the architectural and landscape features which make Stourhead the unique gem that it is in the English countryside. It is probably the only 18th century garden created by an amateur that remains as it was originally conceived.

Leaving the car park the walkers passed under the Archway which was built in the castellated Gothic style in 1799. The adjacent Lodge was built in 1830. Nearby is a group of Spanish chestnut trees, believed to be 350 years old, and these pre-date the famous Hoare family. Mr Bubb suggested that the site of the old manor house of the Stourtons was probably close to the present Lodge.

The wonderful view from Stourhead House looks east towards Whitesheet Hill and Salisbury Plain. The house is 620 feet above sea level and its position makes it a cold place in winter. The main part was built between 1721 and 1724 (20 years before the construction of the Pleasure Grounds) for the Hoare family, who were bankers. The architect was Colen Campbell. Two wings were added in 1795, providing a library and a picture gallery for Sir Richard Colt Hoare, the famous Wiltshire archaeologist. The main body of the house was damaged by a fire in April 1902, but Sir Henry Hoare had the Palladian mansion restored. Sir Henry and Lady Hoare bequeathed Stourhead House and its contents, the gardens and over 2,000 acres of land to the National Trust in 1946.

After seeing the exterior of the house, the walkers continued, ignoring a shower of rain, along a track before crossing a field to see the Obelisk. It was originally erected in 1740 but was rebuilt in 1839. It commemorates Henry Hoare who laid out the Pleasure Grounds. It was struck by lightning in 1853.

Members were next shown the Fir Walk, which was made in the 1720s as an outer boundary of the old house grounds. Its perfectly straight alignment went out of fashion 20 years later when the informal style of landscaping came in. The Fir Walk was restored to its original glory about 10 years ago.

Members continued along a path overlooking some small lakes which pre-date the gardens. These lakes were probably mediaeval fish ponds.

The path led into Six Wells Bottom, a long valley flanked by the appropriately named Shady Hanging and Sunny Hanging. Noisy ewes and lambs “serenaded” the party as it made its way to St. Peter’s Pump. The latter is built over the spring head of the River Stour which makes a 68 mile journey before joining the sea at Christchurch in Dorset.

The pump takes the form of a cross on top of a grotto. The cross was originally built in 1474 and was situated near to St. Peter’s Church in Bristol. It was removed by Act of Parliament in 1766 and re-erected in 1768 (hence the date upon it) in its current position. Sadly, there was no water visible in the well; the headwaters of the Stour now rise a little further down Six Wells Bottom. The carved figures around the cross are badly weathered but Mr Bubb explained that they are due for restoration next year.

The party then headed out of Six Wells Bottom into woodland, climbing up a path to a spot about 700 feet above sea level. From here glorious views of the Dorset Downs were afforded, and among the visible landmarks were the spire of Zeals Parish Church, Duncliffe Wood (now owned by the Woodland Trust) near Shaftesbury, Shillingstone Chalk Pits, and 900 feet high Bulbarrow Hill (the second highest point in Dorset).

The woods at Stourhead hide a little-known Iron Age hill fort, sometimes referred to as Stourton Castle. A break in the walk was taken to admire the single rampart and ditch which encloses four to five acres.

From here the top of Alfred’s Tower with its recently restored spirelet could be seen. The tower has just been re-opened to the public (Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday afternoons) and the top is 1,000 feet above sea level. Those who take the trouble to climb the steps can, according to weather conditions, see Minehead, the Welsh mountains and the Purbeck Hills.

Descending a precarious path out of the woods, the walkers emerged near the recently renovated Beech Cottage. To the south is an area of pasture featuring a group of magnificent oak trees. An almost deserted area today, this was once the village of Luckington. Following the unsurfaced road back to the Pleasure Grounds, with the scent of wild flowers high on the air, was a pleasant experience.

Before rejoining the main road members inspected an old water wheel. Cast in 1921, it was one of the last products made by Hindley & Maggs at the Bourton Ironworks which closed in 1930. The wheel carried water from the lake to farms and cottages on the estate but was disconnected in 1971 in favour of the mains supply. Opposite the water wheel is an ornamental drinking trough with fittings supplied by the Warminster ironfounders and waterworks engineers John Wallis Titt & Co.

Turning left, the party passed under the strange looking Rock Arch, an 18th century structure which carries a footpath across to the Temple of Apollo. On the return to the starting point, nearly everyone took the opportunity to have a pint and a natter in the Spreadeagle Inn.

Warminster Library And The Dewey Museum

Adrian Phillips, in the book The Warminster Trail, compiled for the Warminster Festival 1989, and published by Aris & Phillips Ltd., wrote:

Behind [the Three Horse Shoes Mall] in the extensive car parks which the Council has very sensibly kept free, is the new Library and Museum building designed by the County Architect and opened in 1982.

. . . . it is well worth a visit because it houses both the town Tourist Information [Centre] (Open Mon-Sat except Wed, 10 am – 5 pm.), The Library and the Dewey Museum (Open Mon-Sat 10 am – 5 pm except Wed closed all day, Thurs & Fri 8 pm, Sat 4 pm.

The Museum houses a permanent and rotating display of Warminster history. During June 1989 a special display of “Celebrations of the Past” will be put on by the Warminster History Society which administers the Museum, to celebrate the Warminster Festival 1989.

Warminster PHAB Club

Barbara Gerrish in the Wiltshire PHAB Magazine, No.38, June-August 1989, writes:

Warminster PHAB [Physically Handicapped And Able-Bodied] Club. Once more it’s time to make our report – how time flys!

We held another very successful Jumble Sale (without these we couldn’t carry on) and a Bingo Session which is always popular.

For Easter the members tried their hands at making Easter cards. Gwen, one of our members, who is very artistic, judged the entries, and the 1st prize was awarded to Norma Lemon, and the 2nd prize to Cath Fuller.

The next week found us enjoying a fish and chip evening. Everyone found they had a good appetite.

A Beetle Drive is always good. It’s so hard to get a six to start, once getting one it forever turns up!

We attended the Assembly Rooms [in Warminster] for Mayor’s Day. It’s good to see friends from all walks of life and to ‘chat’ over to the public of PHAB.

Monday afternoon I had a stand in Westbury Parish Hall, trying to sell PHAB to people who thought we were a pop group! Took it to Dilton Marsh on Thursday afternoon and back to Westbury again for the evening. On Friday morning it was Bratton, so all in all a busy week.

On Tuesday last we had our very first Evening Tour, after a very wet day the evening proved sunny and light. It was a three counties tour, and we ended up at Semley for a ploughman’s lunch at the Kingsettle, arriving home around 10.30 p.m.

We’ll keep you informed of future events. Take care of yourselves.

A Visit To The Pound Street Malthouse, Warminster

Monday 22nd May 1989

Danny Howell writes ~

Some of the members of the Warminster History Society were shown around the Pound Street Maltings, Warminster, by Hugh Turner and Chris Garrett.

The Maltings were built in 1879, on the site of Dr. Bleeck’s former house, and were originally in the hands of the Morgan family, who were brewers in the town. Dr. Edwin Sloper Beaven married William Frank Morgan’s sister, and Dr. Beaven went on to take over all the malthouses in Warminster including the one in the Market Place (at Chinn’s Yard). He also had a malthouse at Montpelier in Bristol. He worked in close connection with the head brewer at Guinness’ in Dublin. Dr. Beaven, who found world-wide fame as a barley breeder, died in 1941, and the Trustees of his estate ran the Pound Street Maltings until 1947, when they sold to Guinness, who still run the operation today [1989].

The key to good malt is the quality of the barley used. That at the Pound Street Maltings comes from local farmers, although in seasons when good barley is in short supply it is also acquired from outside Wiltshire, from Devon, Cornwall and Hampshire. The further away it is makes it more expensive. The barley is brought via grain merchants, between July and September, and all is delivered in by bulk lorries. Barley in the field has a moisture content of about 16 per cent but it is dried to a figure nearer 12 per cent, making it safe to store. A large store at Pound Street holds 1,200 tons of barley for the year, and the Maltings has additional storage space at Codford on a site south of the A36.

The first part of the malting process is to steep the grain in water, which raises the moisture level to 44 per cent and prompts the grain to start germination. The barley is dropped into the steep tank from the store, in batches of 10 tons each day. The amount is measured by the rise in the water level. Two-thirds of the water required for steeping is taken from a well, the remainder coming from the local supply. The amount of well water alleviates any problems with regards chlorine or other additives. Although the Maltings find it cheaper to use their own water, they are charged for all the water they dispose of via the local sewer.

It is not possible to leave the grain submerged in the water for more than 12 hours, otherwise it becomes smothered and dies. The problem is resolved by wetting the grain for three separate periods over 72 hours. Air can be blown through the water, and the use of spray bars also helps to ensure even germination. The optimum water temperature is 54 to 55 degrees fahrenheit.

After steeping, the grain is emptied from the tank via an auger but 80 per cent of the removal has to be assisted manually – by a man with a shovel. Ten tons of barley with a 44 per cent moisture content makes for 14 tons weight, and a fit worker is required to aid the transfer. The germinating barley is then spread, about six inches deep on the first two of the germination floors (five tons on each floor), where it continues to germinate. The optimum temperature for the floors is again 54 to 55 degrees fahrenheit and this is regulated by heating in the winter and by opening or closing the windows in the summer. Hot summer days, similar to the one chosen for our visit, make conditions too hot and difficult. That’s why the old traditional maltsters stopped production at the end of May. The colder months of November to February, when the temperature can be controlled with additional heating, are more suited for malting.

The barley spends four days on the four germination floors, and because it is hot there is a tendency for the sprouting roots to become tangled. To prevent this, the grain is raked by a man pulling a kind of three-pronged hoe with a flat blade. This is known at the Warminster Maltings as “dragging” but at malthouses in other districts, particularly Norfolk, it is referred to as “ploughing.” It turns the grain over and gets air into it and if done sufficiently stops the material matting together. This can be done up to four times a day and varies according to the temperature conditions. The men often have to come back after normal working hours, in the evening, on overtime, to repeat this process. The method is traditional, and in the early days the grain was moved about by men using wooden forks and shovels. Today’s shovels are made of aluminium, which makes them lighter to handle. Dust can be a problem, particularly with the original barley, but face-masks are worn by the men.

Another device used for moving the grain on the germination floor, preventing matting and getting the air in, is an electric machine called a Robinson Turner. It resembles a lawnmower and is towed backwards by a man through the material, the rotating blades throwing the grain up in the air before it falls back on to the floor. This is an additional job done each day and the number of times again depends on the temperature. During the last stage, on the fourth and final floor, the barley becomes red hot (too hot at the time of our visit).

The germination process tricks the grain into thinking it has started life in the field, and the germination converts the starch in the grains into simple sugars – exactly what the brewer wants. The maltster likes to see five curly rootlets on each germinated grain. This really depends on the barley brought in, and it is tested on arrival for quality. Unsuitable barley is rejected.

After the allotted time on the floors, the germination has to be terminated by kilning the grain to get the water out. Heating in the kiln reduces the moisture content to four per cent. The buildings at Pound Street contain four old brick kilns but only two are used at the present time for drying the barley. These were once coal-fired but an oil burner, cast by Carson & Toone at Carson’s Yard in Warminster, and patented by Dr. Beaven, is still in use today. The names of Carson and Toone could be plainly seen on the iron doors of the kiln. Alternatively to oil, gas can be used. The kiln is in use 20 hours out of every 24, which leaves only a few hours to load and unload it, which is done manually (a hot and uncomfortable job). Because of the constant process it is important the kiln does not break down. It reaches an incredible 175 degrees fahrenheit and costs £3,000 a month to run.

After kilning, the rootlets (known as malt culns) are removed from the grains. The rootlets and very tiny grains are extracted through a screen which came from Bailey’s Maltings in Frome and was installed in 1890 at the Pound Street Maltings, where it has been used daily ever since. The rootlets are used to make cattle feed; some are sold direct to Corsley farmer Bob Jones, and the rest are sold to a commercial feed manufacturer. The Guinness maltings in Norfolk have their own machinery for converting the rootlets into cattle feed pellets.

The malt grain which is left looks remarkably similar to the original barley. The only difference is the fact that the starch within has changed to sugars, which make the grain very dry and brittle. If you bite the grain it tastes of Horlicks. The final stage is the transfer of the malt grain into a bin where it is discharged into a bulk lorry outside for the journey to the brewer. All the malt from the Pound Street Maltings goes to Guinness’ Park Royal Brewery in London. Park Royal do not take deliveries of malt after 10 a.m., so if a lorry of malt leaves Warminster in the afternoon, it has to wait on the outskirts of London overnight before going into the Brewery first thing in the morning.

Six men are employed on a permanent basis at the Pound Street Maltings, taking care of the seven day process, but they do get time off. Before the War the labour was seasonal, with the men finding casual work during harvest time. The Pound Street Maltings are one of only two traditional floor malthouses still operating in the South West; the other being Tucker’s at Crediton in Devon. Most of today’s malthouses are in East Anglia.

Guinness own two malthouses in Norfolk, at Diss and Great Yarmouth, but both are bigger than the Pound Street Maltings. The Norfolk ones produce 13,000 tons of malt per year, compared to 2,500 tons at Warminster. All three malthouses use the same haulage firm, from Diss; the drivers constantly draying malt from Norfolk and Warminster to the Park Royal Brewery. Warminster is used as the administrative base for the three malthouses with offices at East Street.

Dr. Beaven’s malthouse at Chinn’s Yard was a one-man seven-days-a-week operation. It closed in 1968 when the man retired and no one was fool enough to take it on single-handed every day of the week. Within a year of the Chinn’s Yard malthouse closing, production at Pound Street was ironically increased and the extra output easily outstripped that of the Market Place operation.

As well as brewing, malt is also used in the production of beverages and breakfast cereals.

A Visit To Manor Farm, Codford

Danny Howell writes –

Twenty members of Warminster History Society visited Manor Farm, Codford, on the afternoon of Sunday 7 May 1989, at the kind invitation of Mr. John Collins, to see his private museum of farming and rural bygones.

A large room at the western end of the farmhouse contains more than 650 artefacts gathered by Mr. Collins over the years. The room, which is the oldest part of Manor Farmhouse, was formerly used by shooting parties for beer and lunch after a day’s sport, and the collection began when one or two old objects were hung on the walls for decoration.

Further bygones were added after Mr. Collins restored and cleaned up items from the surrounding farm buildings for a two-day show called “Vanishing Wiltshire”. He then realised how the everyday objects of his youth were fast disappearing and has been rescuing and making additions ever since.

His collection includes horseshoes from Roman and Celtic times to the present day, packhorse and sheep bells by Wiltshire makers, horse brasses, bottles and earthenware jars from local breweries, copper powder flasks and farriery aids. A good variety of lethal traps was also on display. These included two enormous gins, a fox trap, a pole trap made illegal in 1906, a spiked mole trap, and two rare traps for catching kingfishers.

The unusual items included an early form of fire extinguisher – a blue bottle containing a fire repellent powder, a nutcracker-like squeezer for altering the sizes of corks to fit various bottles, two different door keys hinged together, a hot cross bun marker, some children’s ice-skates, and a policeman’s rattle from the days before whistles were issued to constables. Another law enforcement item was a set of handcuffs from Northumberland dating from the early 1800s.

A huge fireplace in the room featured roasting equipment, a revolving trivet, and a griddle for scones. A device, made of iron, standing in the hearth, was once used for cleaning the long churchwarden pipes. Pub landlords, years ago, owned pipes which were loaned to customers for smoking, and the pipes were cleaned by baking them in the embers of the inn’s dying fire after closing time.

Among the local items was a First World War saddle bag, later used for collecting the fares on Couchman’s bus, which took passengers to and from Codford and Salisbury. A good variety of branding irons included some from the late Henry Wales’ Quebec Farm, near Chitterne. These particular ones were last used with paint, not tar, for numbering sheep. Others were used to brand rams for Wilton Fair. A wooden shovel and a fork had seen many years of hard use at the maltings in Warminster.

When asked about a ditching knife, Mr. Collins explained that it was used by William Whatley, the last “drowner’ on Manor Farm. Water-drowning was the practice of shallow flooding the meadows, by using a system of hand-dug ditches and dykes, to ensure an early bite of grass in the spring for cattle and sheep.

The men responsible for this now defunct craft were known as drowners, and Mr. Whatley worked on Manor Farm for about 50 years. Other ditching tools and scythes included examples from the Fussell’s iron foundry at Mells.

Every object had a story associated with it, and Mr. Collins’ anecdotes of times past and some of the characters who had worked in the Wylye Valley, made the afternoon pass all too quickly.

A vote of thanks was given by Danny Howell and the visit concluded with tea and delicious cake made by Mrs. Collins. A collection for St. Mary’s Church, Codford, raised £20.

Boreham Slide Show Raised Funds For The British Heart Foundation

Monday 20th March 1989

Wet and windy weather on Monday 20th March 1989 did not deter local residents from venturing to the meeting room at Warminster Library and Museum to hear local historian Danny Howell give a talk and slideshow. The event was held on behalf of the Warminster branch of the British Heart Foundation and Danny spoke for two hours about Boreham, the ancient hamlet on the eastern side of the town.

The history of Boreham, he said, can be traced to the 13th century. The name was recorded in 1251 as Buriton Delamere; the suffix coming from the Delamere family, who lived at Nunney Castle, near Frome. They owned several pieces of land in Wiltshire and Somerset, including the village of Fisherton Delamere in the Wylye Valley.

The mediaeval village of Boreham was situated in what is now a field, north of the Boreham Road, between Grange Lane and the road to Home Farm. When the field was ploughed in 1977, the late Robert Smith of the County Council’s archaeology department was able to walk it. He discovered thousands of potsherds which are now deposited at the Dewey Museum. The pots are thought to have been made at Crockerton but none date after the 14th century, which suggests that the village of Boreham had expanded outwards before that time.

The house known today as Boreham Manor (200 Boreham Road) is not the original manor house which stood on the same site. When William Temple bought the manor in 1821, he did not like the house and because he had already built a new residence for himself further east (Bishopstrow House in 1817) he had the old manor house demolished. Four cottages were built on the roadside but these were replaced by the present house in Victorian times. The only reminders of the previous house are the old manorial fishponds between the road and the River Wylye.

Mr. Howell’s slides took the audience on an “armchair’ tour of Boreham, looking at many of the houses. He also spoke about Boreham Mill and some of the millers, particularly Edward James Bradfield and Neville Marriage. Mr. Marriage sold the mill to a syndicate in 1929 and it became part of the Marshman’s set-up. One slide showed members of Marshman’s staff on a charabanc outing to Cheddar Caves during the 1930s.

The site of the Warminster Wheel and Wagon Works is now occupied by a modern garage. They were established by Robert Exten in the 1850’s. Mr. Howell read out a letter written in 1862 by Robert Exten’s children. It was discovered hidden in a bottle in the wall of the Exten’s home, Wheel Cottage, during demolition work in 1966. The works were later acquired by Alfred Edwin Down, who was also landlord of the Yew Tree Inn and a sub-postmaster.

Other highlights included the forge at what is now 215 Boreham Road. The Fitz family, who hailed from the Nadder Valley, were blacksmiths there from 1865 onwards. Another smith at Boreham was Thomas Slade who died in 1847. He was known as “the intelligent blacksmith” and could play several musical instruments. He was often appointed bandmaster at local festivities and acted as umpire during disputes among musicians. Thomas Slade made the railings which can still be seen around the grounds of Bishopstrow House.

A vote of thanks was given by Jean Pike. There was no admission charge but a collection at the evening raised £65 for the British Heart Foundation.

No Finer Country ~ Lecture By Danny Howell

The Wiltshire Times And News, Friday 17 February 1989, reported:

Danny Howell’s current successful lecture tour of the area found him on home ground when he spoke to fellow members of the Warminster History Society on the upper reaches of the Wylye Valley under the title “No Finer Country’.

His reputation had gone before him, and there was standing room only in the meeting room of the Library. The excellent quality of his slides enhanced his relaxed delivery, full of anecdotes of the past – not the big moments of history, but the detail which makes the scene come alive.

The stream which runs by Sutton Parva was illegally dug as a marl pit, and on Good Friday 1439 several people were prosecuted for this.

The hollow elm at Tytherington was once used as pig sty. On one occasion in later years seventeen people crowded into it to have a tea party.

The Carriers at Stockton (in the First World War called the New Inn) used to serve many of the 35,000 troops stationed at Codford. To cope with the numbers, the men used to enter the pub by the back door, dip a jam jar into a bath full of ale, and go out of the other door to drink it in the street.

Residents of the village of Corton today may be surprised to discover that in the early 1800s the village was a lawless place, full of drunkeness and degrading sports, like badger baiting and “kick legs” where the calves of each opponent were savagely assaulted. The Baptists had several attempts at bringing their faith to these heathens before they were able to build a chapel in 1828.

One theory about the thatched cob walls which are peculiar to the county, and of which there is a good example at Corton, is that they were built at the time of the machine riots by rich clothiers and farmers to mark the boundaries of their properties. Once this was breached by rioters they were able to call out the militia.

The wonderful churches in the valley include Sutton Veny, with its 160 feet high spire, and Boyton, where the Gifford chapel has the remarkable wheel window, enclosing six circles which can still turn. The family included Walter, Archbishop of Worcester, and Alexander, the crusader. His tomb in the church bears an otter to commemorate his swim across the River Nile.

Sitting indoors on a bleak February evening it was impossible not to feel gratitude for the richness of the past and the beauty of the countryside in which the town now sits. The views from Cotley Hill above Heytesbury, where hill after hill rolls away, each with ramparts and barrows, its skyscapes, bird song and wild flowers, brought the evening to a close.

Next month the A.G.M. will be held.

Of Special Interest At Warminster Dewey Museum

Friday 27th May 1988

Of great interest. Joy West has put the finishing touches to a Victorian working girl’s wedding dress which is part of a special exhibition of local items of interest at Warminster Dewey Museum this month [May 1988].

Marie Freer, Danny Howell, Howard Freer and Reg Cundick, who are all members of the Warminster History Society, have mounted the display which continues to the end of the month.

Among the exhibits are pieces of equipment from the old Stiles Bros., and Wilson & Kennard shops which are usually too large to put on show, and a couple of prints of the staff at the former Alfred Jefferies’ gloving factory taken in the 1920s. The museum’s curator Jack Field would be delighted to discover the names of those who appear in the photographs.

The Warminster Operatic Society

From Yesterday’s Warminster, by Danny Howell, published in March 1987:

Entertainment of another splendid kind was provided for local audiences by the Warminster Operatic Society during the 1920s and early ’30s. The Society owed its origin to its humble forerunner, the Minster Operatic Society, one of several activities organised by the clergy and parishioners of the Minster Church of St. Denys. The Curate, Rev. Dudley Lee, produced a musical called The King Of Sherwood in April 1921, to raise money for the Minster Choir Fund. Two public performances were given plus a full dress rehearsal presented before the inmates of the Workhouse, children from the Orphanage, and the boys of the Reformatory School. This comic opera, rehearsed at the Minster Hall and presented at the Athenaeum, starred R.A. Tranent, Mrs A.G. Fraser, G. Corkhill, Arthur Harraway, Hedley Curtis, F.G. Howes, Norman Richardson and Eustace Dent. Youngsters Ken Tucker and Arthur Viney played page boys, and Arthur’s father, George Viney, played the part of a forester alongside Lionel Wyer. Harold Minhinick played the henpecked husband Will Scarlet; and Miss Kitty James, with an air of reality that evoked much laughter, was the nagging wife, Dame Scarlet. Kitty, whose father Walter James was also in the show, said “I had to lead Harold Minhinick on by his ear in one scene because I had to be a bossy bitch. He grumbled at me once because I took hold of his ear too hard and I hurt him. I was so proud of my part in The King Of Sherwood because I had to sing a song by myself. I sang Always Be Kind To Your Husband. After Sherwood we became the Warminster Operatic Society and we did The Mikado. I was in the chorus of that and it was a big thing to do after all that had happened before.”

The Warminster Operatic Society presented The Mikado in February 1922, donating the proceeds to Warminster Cottage Hospital. This first production of the company, under the chairmanship of Rev. Dudley Lee with E.T. Alley conducting and F.C. Pullin as pianist, was a brilliant show and although the Society performed several other successful operas over the next few years, none could match the brilliance of The Mikado. Usually on the Monday evening following the weekday and Saturday performances of the operas, the Society held a fancy dress or masked ball for friends and patrons, at the Town Hall, with members of the cast appearing in their costumes, which they always hired from Drury’s of Brighton.

The Mikado was followed in February 1923 with The Pirates Of Penzance, which the Society also performed at Bradford-On-Avon and Frome, raising money for Warminster Cottage Hospital, Bradford-On-Avon Waifs and Strays, and Frome Victoria Hospital. Rev. Dudley Lee, the pioneer of the Operatic Society, who had been responsible for The Mikado and had also produced Pirates left Warminster at the end of February 1923. He was inducted by the Bishop of Coventry to the Vicariate of Whitchurch-cum-Preston on Stour. He had come to Warminster in October 1920 and helped to re-activate the Warminster Town Cricket Club in 1921. He also gave several speeches to the Men’s Own Club. His departure from Warminster was a great loss to the Operatic Society but it continued with more Gilbert and Sullivan operas, including Ruddigore in February 1924, Yeoman Of The Guard in April 1925, The Gondoliers in April 1926, and Iolanthe in February 1927. Two shorter operas, Trial By Jury and HMS Pinafore were staged as a dual production in February 1928. The following year, opera-goers in Warminster were entertained with Patience in February and Princess Ida in February 1930. A year later the Society staged The Pirates Of Penzance for a second time and this was followed by a spell of operas other than Gilbert and Sullivan. Country Girl in February 1932 preceded Blue Moon in 1933. In a departure from opera, the Society presented Rookery Nook, the famous farce by Ben Travers, on Wednesday 11 October 1933. They gave two performances: a matinee in the afternoon and an evening show. The next year they performed two operas, Dogs Of Devon in late January and early February, and Geisha in November.

Geisha marked a radical change for the Society because, instead of members Fred Taylor or Captain Geoffrey Wilmot Morrice producing, they engaged a professional producer, L.E.C. Baker of Bath, who was well-known throughout the West Country. Geisha turned out to be the last opera the Society ever did. The additional cost of engaging a professional producer and a smaller number of seats in the theatre due to alterations to the Athenaeum, were the main reasons for a loss of £53. At the Annual General Meeting it was decided to return to Gilbert and Sullivan operas, which cost less in royalty fees and to ask Captain Morrice, who lived at Tullos on the Boreham Road, to produce. The week of 12 November 1935 was chosen, but by August there were only a few members due to apathy and the show was cancelled. The Society’s activities were suspended as members moved away, and others were called up for service as the Second World War approached. So ended the Warminster Operatic Society.

During its glorious twelve year history the regular cast members of the Warminster Operatic Society included Captain and Mrs Morrice, who ran the Castle Steam Laundry at George Street; Herbert Hankey, an employee at Messrs. Birds, the coal merchants; George Durbin, the Stationmaster; and Dick Crook, the Market Manager. Ewart and Ethel Payne ran the bakery, pork butcher’s and grocery business at George Street; and Dick Satherswaite lived at Trowbridge but worked at the Co-op in Warminster. Reg Brely worked at the Midland Bank in Warminster between 1928 and 1958, after which he was transferred to the St. Austell branch. Reg’s acting talents also played a major part in the success of the Woolstore Theatre Country Club and he was also a member of the local “We’ dramatic society. Reg was a keen football player and for a while assisted Warminster Town as goalkeeper, during which time he was the smallest in the Wiltshire League. Other Operatic members included Jim Steer, the Headmaster at Corsley School; and Dick Looker, a teacher at Sambourne School. Eustace Edward Dent, the Headmaster at the Warminster Secondary School, and Norman Richardson, the Latin and history master at the same school, were also regular members of the cast, which included nurseryman Arthur Harraway, and Sidney Day, the carpenter who lived at Ash Walk. Miss Phyllis Wagstaff, Miss Vera Waylen, Harold Minhinick, Mrs Minhinick, Rex Siminson (pianist), Mrs Siminson, Miss Gladys Weare, Edna Greenland, Marjorie Main, Olive Parker, Miss Kathleen Tucker, Miss Edith Foreman, Miss J. Hill, Miss W. Dolman, Evelyn Pollard, Mabel Still, Joyce Bush and Ida Harding were other familiar faces. So too were Jimmy Knoyle, Lionel Wyer, Ken Tucker, Hedley Curtis, Mrs H.G. Thomas, Miss Daphne Donovan, Dick Bull, Percy Bond, Manny Simcox, Don Pitcher, Ernie Marsh and Arthur Viney.

Being a member of the cast had its humorous moments as Arthur Viney well remembers. “In the Pirates Of Penzance I had the part of one of the policemen,” said Arthur, “and there was a matinee on a Wednesday afternoon. I had to go back to the Post Office, where I worked, after the matinee and return for the evening performance. I put my cap and ordinary coat on but left my policeman’s tunic on as well, got on my bike and rode up through the Market Place. A real policeman stopped me! He knew me and he said “Look, that’s not allowed.” I remember looking down and on my tunic buttons were the words “Liverpool City Police’. What happened was, as police uniforms got older, too old for police use but not too old for plays, they were bought up by Drury’s and they hired them out. I was about twenty-two at the time. I said “I’m sorry,” and I explained to the constable what I was doing and he let me go on.”

Arthur proudly recalls another humorous antic. He said “During the time of another show, I had been playing football for Warminster Town against Poole in the Western League at Poole. I got badly injured and I had a stiff leg for three months afterwards. In one of the operas I had to be knighted in one scene but I couldn’t kneel down, so I had to stand while the Queen did the honours. A football match of a different kind actually took place during the performance of one opera. It was in The Pirates Of Penzance, where you have the two choruses, the pirates and the policemen. Because there was a long interval before we had to go on in one of the matinees, someone suggested we went out into the Secondary School playground at the rear of the Athenaeum and have a game of football, pirates versus police. We got so involved in this game. I can’t remember who was winning but all of a sudden someone shouted “You’re on, you’re on. We had to crawl on stage in the dark while the leading people were singing. That was something we didn’t do again.”

The Monastic Church At Edington

Thursday 10th October 1985

The Monastic Church At Edington
The October 1985 meeting of the Warminster History Society was held at Warminster Library and was attended by 55 members. The guest speaker was Miss Penelope Carew-Hunt, of Edington, who gave a very interesting and enlightening presentation on the monastic church in Edington.

Acknowledged to be one of the most perfect of Wiltshire churches, the monastery and priory lies under the escarpment of Salisbury Plain. Built during the reign of Edward III, under the direction of William of Edington, the monastery was founded and endowed in July 1352. William was born in 1300 and became Lord Chancellor in 1362. The building was consecrated in 1361. Constructed from Bath stone, both the nave and chancel were planned to a cruciform layout, and the many and beautiful stained glass windows together with the Norman tower, enhance the beauty of the building, which is a landmark in West Wiltshire.

Smaller in scale than Malmesbury Abbey, the monastery houses many interesting features. Its heavy battlement type exterior gives it the appearance of being fortified, and with the priory in an adjacent site the whole complex forms a perfect example of one of the best monastic churches of its period.

The graceful lines within contain some mediaeval tombs; those at the west end having been salvaged from Imber.

William of Edington died in October 1366 and is buried in Winchester Cathedral.

Edington Church is now used for festivals of church music, which are well attended by many visitors, including from overseas.