History

LOST DORSET NO. 30 STURMINSTER NEWTON

David Burnett, The Dovecote Press

With the worst of the winter ahead and soaring energy costs this photograph of a family gathering firewood is a reminder that country people were once reliant on a well-stocked log pile for their warmth. It was taken in about 1890 on the lane known as the Halter Path leading towards Bagber. By then, scenes like this were increasingly rare. The Dorset dialect poet, William Barnes, who was born at Bagber in 1801, mourned the gradual loss of common land and the right to ‘cut a lot o’ vuzz and briars, vor heaten ovens, or vor lighten viers.’ The wagon is the Dorset box wagon, usually painted yellow or blue with red undersides. Because they were low and wide, and easily manageable on a hill, their popularity spread through much of central southern England. Note who is doing most of the fetching and carrying!

dovecotepress.com

The Dovecote Press has been publishing books about Dorset since 1974, many of which are available locally from Winstone’s Books or directly from the publishers. This photograph is taken from Lost Dorset 1880-1920: The Towns.

OBJECT OF THE MONTH THE OX ROAST PHOTOGRAPH

Elisabeth Bletsoe, Curator, Sherborne Museum

Aunique event occurred on 9th January 1891 during an exceptionally severe winter when the Castle lake froze to a greater thickness than ever before. A novel idea sparked by the generosity of ‘Jack’ Wingfield Digby, it was seen as something that would go down in the history of the town – an ox roast held on the ice itself!

As the Western Gazette reported, while many thousands of people had already been engaged in ‘the graceful art of skating on the lake and the time-honoured pastimes of sliding and promenading’ without major accident, it was deemed a severe test to maintain a three-ton weight on an area fifteen foot square and with five foot of freezing water below. Happily, however, ‘those who predicted disaster found themselves mistaken’.

The roasting arrangements were entrusted to Mr W. Pragnell, who first had deal planks placed upon the frozen surface, then a layer of coconut fibre, followed by elm planking and a coating of iron and earth. This platform was fixed with ropes attached to stakes driven into the ice. Mr Sawtell supplied the ox, a Devon breed seven-foot-long and weighing seven and a half hundredweight. Fires were kindled at 3am and cooking was supervised by Mr. E. Pragnell of the Half Moon, dressed in a chef's outfit. Two men were continuously occupied in turning the carcass on a spit to make it ‘brown all over’. Basting was executed by a six-footlong ladle to allow the cooks to escape the fierceness of the flames. Screens were set up to enclose the heat and shelter the platform from a bracing wind which had got up and ‘wafted to the other side of the lake, the savoury smell of the dish which was in preparation’.

Although during the morning Digby Road was already ‘pretty well thronged’, Sherbornians, Yeovilians and other residents of the neighbourhood packed the lakeside in anticipation between 1pm and 4pm with the Military Band providing ‘excellent music’ all the while. Some of the oldest inhabitants assembled early ‘and were much gratified at being allowed to hold the huge ladle for a few seconds.’ Cooking was completed around 3pm when the ox was removed from the spit and cut up. Joints were set aside for all those who desired a taste ‘in memoriam’ and the baron and two prime cuts were taken to the Castle. 63 years later, Edwin Pragnell recalled in the Western Gazette: ‘Anyone could have a taste given on a bit of bread. We then took the ox to the coach-house at the Castle stables...where all the employees [around 100] sat down to supper; roast beef, bread and cheese, long clay pipes and real good beer and a jolly evening. Next day the carcass was removed to the Castle where in a large copper I made gallons of good thick pea soup which was given away to the poor.’ Pieces of bone from the skeleton were given as souvenirs, one of which resides in the museum collections.

This extraordinary event might never have taken place for the very next day the thaw set in after six weeks of remarkably cold weather.

A very happy Christmas to all our volunteers, visitors, members and supporters.

A Christmas card featuring the ox roast, one of six wintry archival photos from our collection, is currently on sale in the museum shop.

The museum is open with free admission from Tuesday – Saturday 10.30am-4.30pm until 10th December, after which we will be closed until the beginning of February.

DORSET’S OLD STONE CROSSES

Cindy Chant & John Drabik

The remains of stone crosses can be found throughout the British Isles, often in situ or near to where they were constructed. My coauthor John Drabik and I, armed with our 1906 copy of Alfred Pope’s Old Stone Crosses of Dorset, have been exploring our shared passion and researching some of these interesting and very old monuments. They are often found in a very sorry state – many go unnoticed and are frequently seen as mutilated stumps of stone, each hiding a more glorious past. Some were quite intricate, with arched niches or recesses for statues, and were possibly carved by monks.

Throughout Britain, Anglo-Saxons and Romans converted to Christianity faster than churches could be built, so wooden crosses marked the spot where priests and monks preached to the local community. Many of these were replaced by permanent stone crosses – some having a church built on the same site.

These revered and important emblems of the Christian faith were once used for a variety of purposes, but are now relics of a past age. They were visited by many, for pilgrimage, penance, prayer, or to gather around to hear notices and proclamations. Our aim in writing about these ancient stone crosses, often referred to as ‘preaching crosses’, is that hopefully, we will persuade you to take an interest and become as passionate about them as we are.

The earliest examples of stone crosses in Dorset date back to the Saxon period. These were beautifully carved with Celtic knot-work and topped with a Celtic cross. The Celtic cross, also known as the ‘wheel cross’, was originally used by the Druids for spiritual ceremonies and represented the coming together of spirit and the Earth. Later, this symbol was adopted by early Christians to represent the crucified Christ, with the same design spanning over 1000 years, from about AD300 to AD1400.

But most of our stone crosses here in Dorset were erected in the 14th or 15th centuries. They were usually elevated on round, square, or octagonal steps, known as a ‘calvary’, and these were between one and five flights high. On top of this was cemented a huge carved socket stone into which a long shaft was leaded into place. The shaft, sometimes decorated with religious figures and texts, was usually topped with a plain Latin cross,

or sometimes, an elaborate crucifixion scene. They can be found in churchyards, in the centre of the village, and some, by the side of the road marking the way for travelling pilgrims. The crosses were adopted and used for multiple purposes – some even as a pillar for lashing criminals. Those in the marketplaces were often maintained by the local monks, who, after preaching there, would collect alms and market fees.

Some villages boasted two crosses, such as Maiden Newton, Shillingstone, Leigh and Rampisham. Important places of pilgrimage, such as Shaftesbury, had as many as five. Hutchins mentions three crosses here in Sherborne. The higher cross, at the top of Cheap Street, was removed in the early 17th century with the permission of the first Lord Digby. A lower cross stood at the junction of Half Moon Street and South Street, and the square base of a cross remained in Newland at the time of Hutchins – today there is a plaque showing the site of this cross.

No fewer than 5,000 Christian crosses stood in England alone, prior to the Reformation, although this great religious upheaval did not cause the most damage to these monuments. Most survived the purges of Henry Vlll and remained intact for nearly another century. Their mutilation and destruction came with Oliver Cromwell and the Puritans. In 1643, shortly after the start of the Civil War between Charles I and Parliament, an ‘Ordinance’ at the instruction of Cromwell, was passed. It was for the removal or defacing of all crosses, as well as other religious artefacts. Sadly, the Rectors and Church Wardens had to organise a local workforce to destroy these religious symbols, as substantial parish fines were imposed if the orders were not carried out. Parts of the crosses, and calvary, were often recycled and later found embedded in nearby walls and buildings.

By the end of November 1643, many stone crosses were either pulled down, or broken where they stood. The only exception to this appears to have been ‘memorial crosses’, which were dedicated to particular individuals. This may be the reason why the magnificent cross at Stalbridge came to be spared. For two centuries these broken crosses were left to the ravages of time until restorations began, for some of the lucky ones, in the 19th century. For many crosses, the help came too late, and it is only within the 21st century, that antiquarians, and people like John and me, have taken an interest in them as relics to a past age and memorials to past customs.

Forthcoming Auction Programme

Pictures, Books & Maps 5th January

Decorative Arts to Mid-Century Modern 6th January

Silver, Jewellery & Watches 2nd February

Classic & Vintage Cars 9th March

Classic & Vintage Motorcycles 30th March

Further entries invited

Brough Superior SS100 £250,000-280,000

Contact Richard Bromell for advice on single items and complete house contents

Valuations for Probate and Insurance The Long Street Salerooms, Sherborne DT9 3BS 01935 812277 www.charterhouse-auction.com