January 2020

Bremhill History Festival

We are delighted to announce that a Bremhill History Festival will take place in the Parish this year. Utilising all three village halls, simultaneously, there will be a wide range of talks and exhibitions on all aspects of our local history and settlements throughout the Parish. A tour of the Parish with points of interest is being planned and in true Bremhill Parish style, food and beverages will be available.

The date is going to be Saturday 12th September 2020 which is the start of National Heritage Week and is the weekend before the Foxham Horse Show. Put the date in your diary and look out for further updates via The Newsletter and Facebook page (Bremhill Parish History Project).

The first workshop this year is a Census and Parish Records Workshop at the Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre, Chippenham, SN15 3QN. The workshop will cover the census, the 1939 register (a wartime register of who was living in the country, where and what they were employed as), civil registration, C of E baptism, marriages and burials, and trade directories.

Date: Saturday 25th January 2020 at 09.30

The workshop will last a couple of hours and is free to attend

Please confirm your attendance to hello@bphg.co.uk by Wednesday 22nd January 2020.

Moravian Church - Talk and Music

What an interesting evening the audience had! Nigel Pocock introduced the history of the Moravian Church, East Tytherton, founded in 1742 and its school in 1794 with stories about their religious beliefs, preaching and school children. This included the story about the life of an Antiguan slave, Leonora Casey Carr (1808-1837) who was brought to East Tytherton. Her gravestone of is the only one known of an ex-slave in Wiltshire. It is therefore nationally important.

Music was an important part of Moravian worship and recreation. Dr Christopher Kent and his Avon Consort of musicians gave an engaging concert of the music which would have been played at the Moravian church in the early years including that of the Moravian minister, Christian Ignatius Latrobe, who visited East Tytherton in 1797 and promoted the playing of music from composers such as Bach, Handel, Haydn and Mozart.

Some of the delighted audience which attended the event.

Nigel Pocock with a collection of artefacts.

Dr Christopher Kent with his Consort of musicians.