West Kennet Long Barrow and the Surrounding Sites Tuesday 6th March 2012

By Peter Knight Lecture organised by the Shaftesbury & District Historical Society
Venue: Anna McDowell Garden Room, Gold Hill Museum, Shaftesbury
Time: 2.30pm
Tickets: £2.50. Shaftesbury & District Historical Society members free.
Further Information: Tel: 01747 852157 or email Gold Hill Museum

Course on the art of landscape at Salisbury Museum

Every Wednesday, 16 May – 20 June 2012 (6 weeks), 10.30 am – 12.30 pm. Six lectures by Paul Chapman tracing the evolution of modern landscape painting from the Romantics to the present day.

Focusing on the landscape of the West Country, we will see how painters respond to their environments through changing times. Starting with the painters of the Romantic period and ending with the contemporary artists of today we will cover themes and ideas such as the response to agriculture, industrialisation, times of conflict and urbanization.

Together we will look at the landscape through the eyes of the painters and discover how a sense of place combined with a sense of self, produced some of the greatest English art of the last two centuries.

No previous knowledge is needed and there will be opportunities to contribute and discuss topics and ideas raised by studying these wonderful pictures.
Paul Chapman is an art historian whose specialist area is modern painting from the 1850's to present day.

Booking:  Please contact the museum to book.
Cost:  Members: £40.00; Non-members: £50.00.

Lecture on the Saxons of Wessex in Shaftesbury

Saxons in Wessex - Tuesday 7th February 2012 - Adrian Green

Lecture organised by the Shaftesbury & District Historical Society
Venue: Anna McDowell Garden Room, Gold Hill Museum, Shaftesbury

Time: 2.30pm

Tickets: £2.50. Shaftesbury & District Historical Society members free.

Exhibition on Thomas Hardy's Wessex opens in January in Salisbury Museum

Landscapes of Thomas Hardy’s Wessex: Works by Dave Gunning, David Inshaw and Rob Pountney

Venue: Small Exhibition Gallery / Salisbury & South Wiltshire MuseumDate: 14 Jan 2012 - 14 Apr 2012
Time: 10:00 - 11:30 

A collaboration between three artists who have depicted the dramatic landscapes and ancient archaeological sites of Hardy’s Wessex landscape.   Key works were specifically selected by the artists to show their varied and eclectic response to the places in Wiltshire that Hardy wrote about.  Ranging from compressed charcoal drawings, prints, steel etchings and oil paintings, the work of Dave Gunning, David Inshaw and Rob Pountney is displayed in the Museum’s upstairs gallery.  

By personally selecting a small number of key pieces from their huge bodies of work, these artists give a unique glimpse into their own reactions to their art.  They are showing what they consider to be their most revealing and emotional responses to a landscape they have got to know intimately, both through Hardy and through their own experience of it.

Shaftesbury Historical Society Lecture 061211 North Dorset Mills

Lecture on North Dorset Mills by Peter Stanier

Tuesday 6th December 2011Gold Hill Museum

Lecture organised by the Shaftesbury & District Historical Society
Venue: Anna McDowell Garden Room, Gold Hill Museum, Shaftesbury
Time: 2.30pm
Tickets: £2.50. Shaftesbury & District Historical Society members free.
Further Information: Tel: 01747 852157 or email

Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre Event Discover Wiltshires 20th Century Writers 01.12.11

Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre

Thursday 1^st December 2011 - 20^th Century Wiltshire Writers

Take a look at the county through the eyes of well known writers of poetry and prose and discover their associations with Wiltshire. Part 2 of Wiltshire Writers and Literary Figures. Limited to 30 people.

All talks begin at 2.15 pm. Admission £3.50 (concessions £2.50).  Spaces are limited so please buy your ticket in advance. Telephone 01249 705500 or visit our Help Desk at the History Centre.

Lecture in Blandford on the 7th Dec on the Durotriges

Dr Martin Papworth the archaeologist with the National Trust will be speaking on the Durotriges and their place in Dorset at 7.00pm at the United Reformed Church Hall, Blandford

Delve into the history of Clarendon Park with lecture at Salisbury & South Wiltshire museum

If you go down to the woods today......Clarendon Park and Forest 1200-1650

Venue: Lecture Hall / Salisbury & South Wiltshire Museum
Category: Lectures
Date: 16 Nov 2011
Time: 18:30
Description: Wednesday 16 November 2011. A  talk by Dr Amanda Richardson.

The talk is the second in our series on this very important Royal Palace and Hunting Ground which is right on our doorstep. Dr Richardson is a Senior Lecturer in Medieval and Early Modern History at Southampton University and this promises to be a fascinating insight into part of our local countryside.

Drinks at 6.30 pm,  lecture at 7.00 pm.

Forthcoming Lecture on Damerham Archaeology Project at Salisbury Museum

A talk by Dr Helen Wickstead, Kingston University and Martyn Barber, English Heritage on the Damerham Archaeology Project. 08th Nov 2011 19:30

A lecture in the Salisbury Museum Archaeology Lectures (SMAL) series. SMAL lectures are held on the second Tuesday of each month from September to April in the Lecture Hall at the Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum