Echoes of the Past • Museum of East Dorset (2019)
‘Echoes of the Past‘ was a promenade theatre event created to mark the closing of the Priest’s House Museum in preparation for the next phase in the building’s history. Research by WCT spanned many centuries and focussed on Hilda Coles, the founder of the museum and the many people who have passed through its doors from the streets of Wimborne – gentry, customers, servants, volunteers and friends.
See photos of the production here
About the production
After the first scene in the Shop, the audience were led simultaneously around the empty museum in three or four groups, visiting five locations to experience imagined moments in time throughout the building’s long history.
IN THE SHOP the Voices of the Building spoke to the assembled audience, including
Animations by students from St Michael’s Middle School, Wimborne working with Alastair Nisbet from ScreenPlay
BY THE STAIRCASE • 2019 & 1918: we saw a Volunteer and a trainee Volunteer and the ghost of Hilda Coles, aged 11 years.
IN THE STATIONERY SHOP • 1880: the audience heard a soundscape of voices and sounds through headphones, relating to the strange story of eccentric stationery shop owner, John Lowe.
IN THE PARLOUR • 1776, we witnessed wool and silk mercer, Elizabeth King, meeting Betty Gulliver, wife of smuggler, Isaac Gulliver.
IN THE GARDEN • 1940, we overheard Hilda Coles telling her parents Blanche and Tom, about her plans to join the War effort, as an ambulance driver.
IN THE KITCHEN • 1891 & 1961, around the old cast iron hearth, Millstream Theatre acted out the story of shop-keeper, Ralphe Lowle (20th century), Hannah Bartlett (19th century), and other servants who worked in the kitchens.
FINALE IN THE SHOP • 1960 & 2019: in the final scene George Watson, Chair of Wimborne Historical Society, welcomed guests with a glass of sherry, as Hilda Coles, handed over the keys to Emma Ayling and developers, Greendale.
Dates: Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, June 5, 6, 7, 2019.
Venue: The Priest’s House Museum, Wimborne
The production received funding from the Priest’s House Museum through the Heritage Lottery Fund
Photos
PERFORMANCES
REHEARSALS
CRAFT-MAKING
SOUND-MAKING
ST MICHAEL’S MIDDLE SCHOOL ANIMATIONS
MILLSTREAM THEATRE
Programme
© copyright of Wimborne Community Theatre
Research
PRIEST’S HOUSE MUSEUM GUIDE – CONTENTS
The Priest’s House Museum & Garden
The Museum of East Dorset
The Building
The oldest part of the building, a stone and flint house, was probably begun in the early 16th century.
The earliest section of the building is the stone-built L-shaped hall and north wing and was probably 1 and a half storeys in height. It was increased to two storey and an attic, possibly in the early 17th century. The south wing is timber-framed and was added in the early 17th century. In the middle of the 18th century the courtyard between the two wings was in-filled, the ground floor today occupied by the museum shop. A brick built single-storey service/kitchen range was added in the early 18th century.
The property held some status in the late medieval period. From about 1687 it was occupied by John Bowdidge, who styled himself as a ‘gentleman’. For part of the 18th century the building was divided into four units, indicating a lowering in the status of the property. The King family reunited the house in the mid 18th century.
The name of the building is first recorded on an Ordnance Survey map of 1889. However, there is no documentary evidence to suggest that it was the house of one of the canons of the Minster.
Hilda Coles (1907 – 1987) owned the building, and with the Wimborne Historical Society opened a small museum and library in 1962. When she died in 1987, she left the house and garden to the town, to remain as a museum and reference library.
Since that time the museum has developed, expanding into the rest of the building.
The Ironmonger’s Shop (circa 1926)
In the entrance room the back wall is the original front wall of the 16th century stone-built house, complete with a partially restored window and the original doorway, which was reset in the 18th century. The model of the house on the ironmonger’s shop counter shows what we believe it to have looked like before the courtyard was in-filled.
In the Georgian period a shop with living accommodation above was built in this open space. In 1990 the frontage was restored to its 18th century appearance with bow fronted shop windows, assisted by the discovery of the original window shutters and a 19th century photograph.
On the right-hand side of the entrance is a reconstruction of part of the ironmonger’s shop, which Hilda Coles’ grandfather opened in 1872 and which closed in 1960. A hundred years ago, this was one of a number of ironmongery shops serving town and countryside. Coles supplied the needs of residents for hardware, gardening tools and general ironmongery. The shop also catered for local farmers, stocking guns, sporting equipment and agricultural tools. The counter and drawers beneath the cupboards, together with much of the stock on display, were left behind when the shop was closed.
The Stationer’s Shop (1838-1872)
The mid-18th century panelling in this room came to light behind fitted showcases during restoration work. From 1838 this room was used by William Low (Hilda Coles’ great, great grandfather on her mother’s side) as a stationer’s and tobacconist’s shop. His portrait and that of his wife, now hang here. In 1872 his son John closed the shop and ordered that it should remain boarded up until after his death.
When the Coles family entered the room in 1904 match of the original stock, including an outstanding collection of Valentine cards and boxes of clay pipes from Shropshire and Belgium, were found still intact. John Lowe has been reinstated in his shop, surrounded by displays, which give an impression of the town he would have known.
Mrs. King’s Parlour (1700 -1820)
This room has been set in 1775 during the widowhood of Elizabeth King, whose family occupied the house from the mid 18th century. She continued her husband’s business as a mercer dealing in fine imported silks and local woollen cloth. Here she is seen discussing her building plans with John Mitchell, a master plumber, who is known to have worked on the site.
Features of this room included an early 17th century plaster ceiling and decorative frieze with an inscription over the window reading ‘AL PEOPLE REFRAYNE FROM SYN’ followed by a heart and initials. The walls behind the panelling are painted with a simple pattern of vertical stripes.
The panelling was installed in about 1700 when the size of the room was reduced (note how the wall of the stationery shop cuts short the plaster ribs on the ceiling). At the same time the stone fireplace, visible through the panelling on the right-hand side of the room, was concealed.
In the corner a display of domestic items is housed in a buffet (a set of shaped shelves under an ornamental plaster canopy, which was rescued from a house in King Street).
Childhood Gallery
At the top of the stairs the door on your left leads to a display reflecting the change in our attitudes towards children, which have taken place since Victorian times. The stone mullion window, visible behind one of the display cases, is part of the original facade of the building.
Costume Gallery
This gallery houses part of the museum’s costume collection. The theme of the display is changed regularly. This room is in the north wing of the building.
Archaeology Gallery
This gallery houses the artefacts from the site of a Roman villa at Tarrant Hinton, including a rare water pump and a set of decorative wall plaster.
This room, again in the north wing of the building, has a fine 18th century fireplace and grate. The timber doorway near the window leads to a narrow passage, where a cupboard recessed into the stack houses a collection of objects found in local houses, including the mummified cat.
Special Exhibition Gallery
Displays in the room are changed regularly. This room includes another fine fireplace and range.
17th Century Hall (1640 – 1680)
In the 17th century the hall and would have been the principal room in the house. Today’s staircase and passage were inserted into the hall in the 18th century. The wall opposite the carved stone fireplace is of timber and contains, at either end, fragments of the original screen, which separated the hall from the cross- passage beyond.
The contents of the room closely follow a description of the interior of Wilksworth Farm, just north of the town, which lists painted wall cloth hangings, furniture and furnishings of the type displayed here. The painted linen cloths are modern copies of a set at Owipen Manor in Gloucestershire and depict the biblical story of Joseph.
Victorian Kitchen (circa 1891)
The single storey service range housing the kitchen, warehouse (now the East Dorset Villages Gallery) and the forge was begun in 1766 for Elizabeth King. Her initials, together with the name of the plumber, appear on the dated pump in the scullery beyond the kitchen. When first built, the kitchen fireplace was much larger and equipped for spit roasting, the spits being kept in the rack above the mantelpiece. In the late 19th century a range was installed and the size of the fireplace opening was reduced.
East Dorset Villages Gallery
This gallery houses an overview of the life and work of villages within the East Dorset area. Largely a rural area, many small industries were founded and continued for many years, including Verwood pottery and papermaking at Witchampton.
At the end of the display is a working forge used in the 19th and early 20th centuries as a tinsmith’s workshop, where domestic utensils were repaired and re-tinned for the ironmonger’s shop.
The Garden
The narrow garden, with its central path leading from the back door to the mill stream, is 100 metres long. It is sheltered by brick walls which mark ancient property boundaries and a medieval burgage plot. Photographs show that the central path has been a feature of the garden since at least the Victorian period. Older varieties of apple and pear trees line the path on either side further down. The present layout of beds and lawns was developed largely by the Coles family earlier in the 20th century. It would be expected that John Bowdidge would have had a private recreational area in the 17th century. An 18th century map shows that the east part of the garden was an orchard. The garden was probably used for domestic and trade functions during the period that the house was subdivided, though the King family would have returned the garden to its more tranquil nature.
At the bottom of the garden is a small shelter roofed with Roman stone tiles excavated from the Tarrant Hinton villa. The tesserae (mosaic tiles) on the floor are also from there.
PRIEST’S HOUSE MUSEUM TIMELINE (WITH NOTES ON ARCHITECTURAL FEATURES OF ROOMS)
Scene from WCT’s production of What They Left Behind, 2016, set in the Coles’ Ironmongers’ shop during the First World War
LOCATION: Archaeology Gallery
– Artefacts from Roman villa at Tarrant Hinton; including rare water pump and wall plaster
– North wing: 18c fireplace
– Narrow passage and cupboard: mummified cat
House records go back to 17th century – show mercers, traders and one “impoverished gent” but no priests or clerics ever known to have lived there.
Tudor period
1500s L shaped single-storey building with stone gable on left, facing street.
1600s Upper storey added. Original L shape turned into U shape with additional right-hand gable (now the Tourist Information Centre).
Stuart period 1603
LOCATION: 17th Century Hall
– Stone and flint hall, originally oak-panelled
– Building was possibly owned by the Hanhams Estate and leased to various occupants
1687 John Bowdidge. May have been in residence from this date (mentioned in rate for relief of French Protestants). Father was Stephen Bowdidge (steward to the Hanham Estate, held the social status of “gentleman” and probably worked in the legal profession).
1695/6 John Bowdidge, “a gentleman”, inherited his father’s considerable debts, including a mortgage of £1,660. Forced to sell land to pay off debts and probably moved out of the parish.
Occupant with wife Bridget. Bridal settlement of £1,200 failed to make him solvent.
1701 Occupancy of John Bowdidge, gent, continued. Bridget died childless.
1704 Occupants John Bowdidge.
1709 Thomas Barnes, cheesemonger, paid 10 shillings to Bowdidge. Mr. Lloyd paid five shillings for other part of building (Poor Law rates) – a lot.
Georgian Period 1714
1723 Property split between Widow Barnes, five shillings, and John Barnes, two shillings.
1728 John Barnes took over Widow Barnes’ part.
1738 John Barnes’ part split between his widow, one shilling and sixpence, and Mr. King, seven pence (presumably Christopher King).
1741 Thomas Barnes’ part, now split, taken over by William Barnes.
1742 Thomas Barnes’ part now split between four people:
William Barnes
Widow Barnes
Christopher King, silk and wool merchant
John Chamberlin
LOCATION; House
– Mid 18th Century: King Family reunited the house after it was divided into four units
1746 Christopher King took over widow of William Barnes’ part.
1748 Occupants as before. In this year records of poor rates ceased.
The property continued to be owned, in all probability, by the Hanham family during this period.
1756 Major building work. Courtyard roofed over.
(Priest House Museum evidence: CK on rainwater head, date 1756).
1762 Death of Christopher King, Mercer
1766 Widow Elizabeth King built kitchen extension, employing John Mitchell, plumber. (Priest House Museum evidence: lead pump with her initials and date 1766).
1777 Widow Elizabeth King now has three parts of the property. John Chamberlin in occupancy of fourth part.
1785 More plumbing work. WK on rainwater head, initials of William King, son of Christopher and Elizabeth.
(Reconstruction work listed in the Land Tax Return 1780- 1832)
1792 Death of William King, silk and wool mercer
1793 William Butt, draper and grocer, took over lease.
LOCATION: Elizabeth King’s Parlour
– Widow, continued her husband’s business as a mercer, dealing in fine imported silks & local woollen cloth.
– Discussing building plans with John Mitchell, a master plumber, who worked on site
– 17C ceiling and frieze, ‘all people refrain from sin’;
– Panelling 1700; revealed stone fireplace
– Domestic items in a buffet (from house in King Street)
Victorian period 1837
1837 William Low (great-great-grandfather of Hilda Coles), stationer, bookseller, tobacconist and printer, took over lease of numbers 23 – 25 High Street, from the Hanham family (Trade Directory). The main premises used as a grocer’s shop. One room used as a stationer’s and tobacconist. Also worked as a printer and sold medicines.
1851 Occupants (from 1851 census):
William Low, 64, bookseller and grocer
William Low, 34, son, printer
John Low, 29, son, grocer
Edmond Low, 20, son, bookseller
Jane Woodford, 9, niece, scholar
Hannah Bartlett, 49, servant
1871 William Low senior died. John Low took over business. He frequently shut the shop if a customer offended him. John was active in the town and had good social standing – founder of the town’s first penny bank.
1872 John Low closed stationery shop but retained lease with instructions that it was not to be opened until his death (32 years later).
LOCATION: Stationer’s Shop
– Panelling discovered behind fitted showcases.
– Room used by William Low (HC’s great-great-grandfather) as stationers and tobacconists.
– Portrait of him and wife in room.
– Son, John, closed the shop in 1872 and ordered it should remain boarded up until after his death.
– Coles family entered the room in 1904 and found much original stock, including Valentine cards.
1872 Thomas Good Coles took over main premises, opened ironmongery business. (Priests House Museum evidence: early photograph showing Coles’ shop with stationer’s sign on the left).
1881 Occupants (from 1881 census):
In the main part:
Thomas G Coles, 34, Ironmonger
Jane Coles, 31, wife, (nee Woodford)
Thomas Frank Coles, six, son
Edith Susan Coles, four, daughter
William Spencer Coles, three, son
Annie Barrett, 17, domestic servant
In separate shop (now Tourist Information Centre):
Edward Gossling,48, Shoemaker
Christina, 32, wife
Willie, 5, son
Agnes Adams, 59, mother-in-law
1883 Sale of properties by Hanham family, included Priest’s House Premises comprising of two houses and shops bought by the Coles family.
1885 First documentary evidence of name ‘The Priest’s House’ (now owned by the Coles family) Ordnance Survey map 1885.
1891 Occupants (from 1891 census):
In the main part:
Thomas G Coles, 44, ironmonger,
Jane Coles, 49, wife,
Tom F Coles 16, son, Ironmongers’ assistant
Edith S Coles 15, daughter, scholar,
William S Coles, 13, son, scholar
Stanley G Coles, 9, son, scholar
Emily J Coles, 7, daughter, scholar
Emma A Hiscock, 16, general servant
In separate shop (now Tourist Information Centre):
Edward H Garrett, 33, Merchant Taylor
Ellen A C Garrett, 30, wife
Bertha E Garrett, 6, daughter
Cecil E Garrett, 4, son
Ivan P Keen, 20, boarder, apprentice
George Coombs, 43, visitor, Miller
1899 Thomas Good Coles died. Thomas Frank Coles (aged 25) took over the Ironmongers’ business during the Boer War.
Edwardian period 1901-1914
1901 Occupants (from 1901 census):
In main part:
Jane Coles 58, living on their own means
Tom F Coles, 26, son, ironmonger/shopkeeper
Edith S Coles, 24, daughter
William S Coles 22, son, ironmonger/shopkeeper
Stanley G Coles, 18, son
Emily J Coles, 17, daughter
Fanny Coles 49, visitor, living on own means
In separate shop (now Tourist Information Centre):
Edward H Garrett, 43, merchant tailor
Ellen Garrett, 39, wife
Bertha A Garrett, 16, daughter
Cecil E Garrett, 14, son, scholar
LOCATION: Ironmongers’ Shop
– 1872 – First owned by Hilda Cole’s grandfather
– Closed 1960
– Brick wall is original front wall of 16th century house
– Supplied needs of residents for hardware, garden tools and ironmongery, guns
– Original counter and drawers
1904 Thomas Frank Coles married Blanche Cox, the butcher’s daughter.
“Mrs. Coles was not the sort of person to be seen out with a shopping basket”.
John Low died and Tom Coles took over the stationer’s premises to expand his Ironmongers’ business. Found the original stock, including Victorian Valentine cards, boxes of matches, stationery, books, boxes from Shropshire and Belgium and clay pipes (all intact) – stored at the Dorchester County Museum until Hilda opened her museum.
3rd April 1907 Hilda May born.
1911 Occupants (from 1911 census):
In main part:
Tom F Coles, 36, head, ironmonger,
Blanche Coles, 32, wife
Hilda Mary Coles, 4, daughter
Bessie Kimber, 17, general servant, domestic
In separate shop (now Tourist Information Centre)
Edward H Garrett, 53, merchant tailor
Ellen A Garrett, 50, wife
Bertha E Garrett, 26, daughter
Cecil E Garrett, 24, son, merchant tailor
Abraham R Mutter, 26, Visitor, head schoolmaster and professional musician.
LOCATION: Victorian Kitchen
– Single storey building began in 1776 for Elizabeth King, incorporating forge, warehouse and kitchen.
– Elizabeth King and John Mitchell’s initials on pump in garden.
LOCATION: Childhood Gallery
– original stone mullion window
LOCATION: Forge
– 19-20c, tinsmith workshop, repairs and re-tinned items for Ironmongers’
Modern period 1, 1914 – 1945
WW1 1914- 1918
1915 Tom S Stone, Hilda’s father’s assistant in the shop, enlisted in the Royal Garrison Artillery. Less than two years later his death was announced in the Wimborne Parish Magazine “September 17th, killed by machine gun fire whilst laying telephone lines”.
1917 Dr. Ernest K Le Fleming, one of Hilda’s father’s closest friends, was commissioned in the Royal Army Medical Corps.
Between the wars:
1920s Ralf Lowle came to work at shop as Tom Coles’ assistant.
1923 Canford School was founded.
1933 – 1935 Hilda ran her own little business from the shop breeding and selling budgerigars and also expanded the stock of sports equipment.
1937 Dr. Ernest K Le Fleming was knighted for services to medicine and for recommendations for PE in schools.
Mr Abley – opened a Gentlemen’s Outfitter’s in the 1930s in part of the premises let from the Coles. (now the TIC). Daughter, Mary Abley, close friend of Hilda Coles.
WW2 1939 -1945 (in Europe)
Hilda was posted to Invergordon in Scotland – Wren No. 65824. She was discharged from the Wrens on the 1st of April 1946 with commendations and a ‘mention in dispatches’ for her services. She returned to the shop.
Ralph Lowle, spent the war years in the North African Desert, serving with General Alexander in a wireless patrol unit.
Modern Period 2, 1945 – 2000
1953 Thomas Frank Coles died aged 79. Hilda Coles, his daughter, took over the business.
1958 Grant for repair of house from the Ministry of Works.
1960 The Ironmongers’ business closed. September 1960 – ground floor offered to Wimborne Historical Society. Donations given by local people and Le Fleming’s collection moved from Dorset County Museum.
LOCATION: Miss Coles’ Flat & Sitting Room
– Miss Coles invited volunteers and friends up for a sherry.
– Invited curators to make displays in the museum and in the evening would creep down to change things about.
August 1961 First room opened.
LOCATION: Museum
– Hilda Coles’ own museum from 1962 1987
1962 July 31st – Museum opened three rooms on ground floor for limited hours. Expansion of the museum started.
1972 Blanche Coles died aged 93.
1987 January 5th – Hilda Coles (Mick) died. The Priest’s House and the collections bequeathed to the town under the auspices of the Minster Governors, to be used as a museum for local people.
1990 The Priest’s House Museum Trust, in partnership with the of the Minster Governors and East Dorset District Council restored the historic building and extended the museum display area to 10 rooms.
New Millennium period 2000
2012 A Heritage Lottery Fund grant and a massive fundraising effort enabled the museum to expand its educational facilities and storage space in a new building, named in honour of the museum’s founder the Hilda Coles Open Learning Centre.
2014 The Priest House Museum Trust took over the operation of the Tourist Information Centre.
2019 Revival project
2020 Revival project to be completed
CHARACTERS FROM THE PRIEST’S HOUSE
Hilda Coles
Tom Coles
– Tom Coles lived in the house all his life
– Born 1875 (1881 census. Thomas Frank Coles, 6, son)
– Died 1953 (Obituary: “one of the most outstanding and beloved figures in Wimborne passed away on August 28th””).
– Thomas Frank Coles married Blanche Cox, the butcher’s daughter, in 1904 and three years later on the 3rd of April 1907, Hilda Mary, was born.
– He was a strict father.
– Family lived above the shop at PHM with no bathroom. Water drawn from the well. Outside lavatory. Employed a maid. Shop sold cartridges, guns, tools etc. Gunpowder stored outside.
– Customers before WW1 included the gentry – Bankes of Kingston Lacey, Alingtons of Crichel, Lady Wimborne of Canford Magna
– The garden was the family’s private domain. They all enjoyed the garden, particularly Blanche. Tom vied with his friend George Lock the barber, over who would win the most prizes in the local horticultural shows.
– Tom had taken over the business from his father in 1899 during the Boer war. Trade then was almost moribund, he had to scrimp, save and worked very hard to avoid bankruptcy.
– He was sometimes accused of stinginess in later life, not least by Hilda when she wanted to replace the family car with a newer model. But remembering the early years, one can have some sympathy with his determination that never again would his home, his family or his livelihood would be put at risk.
– Nevertheless, at some time before 1912, new shop windows were installed and – waste not, want not – the old windows shutters and shelves found their way up into the attic, along with the unsold stock and other unwanted items. The Coles were great hoarders and unwittingly great contributors to the museum’s collections.
– Tom Coles paid four pounds, four shillings a term plus five shillings for stationary for Hilda to attend the Wimborne High School for Girls at Allendale House as a day girl.
– Tom had many friends: Dr. Ernest Kaye Le Fleming, Bill Topp, a fellow ironmonger, George Lock, the barber. Sir Newman Flower.
– Tom never learnt to drive. Hilda was the family chauffeur, long before driving was the norm for women.
– Tom had a profound love and knowledge of Wimborne. He had a great influence on his daughter’s future together with his many interesting friends, such as Dr Ernest Kaye Le Fleming and George Lock, the barber. Most of these men, like Tom and, indeed, Mick herself, did not have the benefit of higher education and yet their thirst for knowledge, and breadth of their interests and depth of their learning is truly awe-inspiring.
– In 1872, the eccentric stationer (William Low) shut his shop and declared it must not be opened until his death. 32 years later, Tom Coles took over this part of the premises to enlarge his ironmongers’ shop and found amongst the old stock a magnificent collection of Victorian Valentine cards of great delicacy and charm.
Hilda Coles
(taken from the book. Hilda Coles 1907-1987)
Schooldays during WW1
– Hilda was educated at the Wimborne High School for Girls in Allendale House. As a girl she learned Scripture, English, Mathematics, Latin, French and Drill. Also Singing, Drawing, Brushwork, The Theory of Music, Harmony and Needlework (an anathema to Hilda). Hilda’s favourite sport was Hockey. She continued to play with Wimborne Ladies’ Hockey Team for many years afterwards. Sometime during her schooldays perhaps because of her great love of sport Hilda turned into “Mick”, a nickname that remained with her for the rest of her life.
– When Mick completed her schooling, she joined her father in the shop. Mick was a much-cherished child and although she did not enjoy shop work, she was learning all the time.
– Lilian Jacobs, a friend of long standing, remembers going to dances in a Masonic Hall with Mick – farmers’ dances, and Hockey Club dances. They played hockey in matches together on Wednesdays and Saturdays, although her father would not always permit her to be absent from the shop on a Saturday. Lilian remembers Mick sailing on a Norwegian cruise with her friend Miss Barnes and throwing a Norwegian party in the empty shop next door on their return. She became interested in amateur dramatics and helped the Women’s Institute productions behind the scenes, making props and painting scenery. Several people remember a spectacular wind machine she constructed for special effects.
WW2 1939 -1945 (in Europe)
– Hilda was posted to Invergordon in Scotland – Wren No. 65824. Mick was in the motor transport driving trucks and cars, she was very mechanically minded. She enjoyed making long trips in the north of Scotland. She was discharged from the Wrens on the 1st of April 1946 with commendations and a ‘mention in dispatches’ for her services. She returned to the shop. Many of her friends and acquaintances have expressed surprise that she did not leave home to better her prospects.
Later Life in Wimborne
– By all accounts Mick was artistic, intelligent, bright and quick to learn. She was the family chauffeur long before driving was the norm for a woman. Tom had never learned to drive.
– With hindsight it seems as though these early days were one long apprenticeship for the task she eventually set herself – realising her father’s dream of opening a museum in Wimborne. Her eye-catching window displays but a rehearsal for the effective exhibitions she mounted later. Business methods she learnt from her father and his bookkeeper, Mr. Burton, stood her in good stead when she had to make the difficult decision to dispense with the regular shop income and rely on investments and rents to support herself and her mother. The small museum with only three rooms open to the public for limited hours was never going to be a money spinner. Perhaps the most difficult lesson was learning how to deal with the public. In the shop according to some, her attitude at times was less than ingratiating. Mick could be very forthright, but this, too, was to prove a necessary asset.
Christopher King
(from research by Stephen Price, museum curator)
Stephen Price, (an earlier curator) took the brave step of closing the museum completely to take out partitioning upstairs and restore the rooms to their former shape. The restored museum won the prestigious Gulbenkian Award for the most improved museum in a rural area. He planned the museum as we see it today with rooms furnished in appropriate period styles. In the course of clearing out centuries of old stock and other goods hoarded in the attic, he discovered the original Georgian shutters and shelves from the shop windows and the new frontage was designed using these authentic templates.
A wooden lid from a packing case, also from the attic and labelled Christopher King, led Stephen to research in the records office where the history of this former inhabitant, a silk and wool mercer from the 18th century, was revealed. Of the datable finds, coins from 1735 and 1775 tie in with the occupant Christopher King.
1742 Property was owned by the Hanham family during this period.
Thomas Barnes’ part split between four people: William Barnes, Widow Barnes, Christopher King and John Chamberlin.
1746 Christopher King took over widow of William Barnes’ part.
1748 Property as before. In this year records of poor rates ceased.
1756 Major building work. Courtyard roofed over. (Priest House Museum evidence, CK on lead rainwater head on the roof, date 1756).
1762 Death of Christopher King, Mercer
Ralf Lowle
– Ironmongers’ assistant to Tom Coles (1920) then to Hilda Coles until shop closed (1960s). Thomas Frank Coles died in 1953. Hilda Coles his daughter took over the business.
– Spent the war years in the North African Desert, serving with General Alexander in a wireless patrol unit.
– After WW2, Ralph Lowle, who had made a solemn promise to Tom Coles that he would return to the shop after the war, assumed more responsibility.
– Lowle, Ralph’s widow, has many happy memories of the postwar years. She was always made welcome in the shop. Mrs. Coles would offer her tea and when their daughter was a toddler, she would run down the garden to share her father’s dinner on a seat by the river.
– In a taped interview with the museum’s then curator, Stephen Price, Ralph Lowle gave a vivid account of shop life between wars. (could be 1990s)
Dr. Ernest K Le Fleming
– One of Hilda’s father’s closest friends, was commissioned in the Royal Army Medical Corps in 1917 during World War One. Returned to Wimborne at the end of the War, a changed man.
– Worked with a group of doctors meeting in Dorchester planning a National Health Service. Took his ideas to the BMA and Parliament (PM – Lloyd George).
– Knighted in 1937.
– Became school doctor to Canford School where he appointed a PE master.
– His collection was stored at the Dorchester County Museum and later moved to the PHM.
“An advocate for the creation of a National Health Service he was instrumental in the improvement of physical education in schools.”
PRESS CUTTING
CREATIVE RESPONSES TO THE RESEARCH
CRAFT WORKSHOPS FOR ECHOES OF THE PAST
Members of WCT held several craft workshops prior to the production to create the set dressings and props for Echoes of the Past.
Led by Clare and Hannah Small, we reproduced Victorian Valentine cards to hang in the Stationer’s shop and bales of cloth and labels for the Parlour scene.
Sound Files
Listen to Scene 1: The House welcomes the audience
Listen to Scene 2: The Garden in World War Two
Listen to Scene 3: The Kitchen
Listen to Scene 4: The Staircase
Listen to Scene 5: The Parlour
Listen to Scene 6: The Stationer’s Shop
Listen to Scene 7, Part 1: Finale: What is a Museum?
Listen to Scene 7, Part 2: Finale: The Wimborne Historical Society Meeting
Listen to Scene 7, Part 3: Finale: Goodbye