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July 2022 July 2022

BERE REGIS WI The Twentieth Century
By 1900, the number of boys supported was down to 4 as the income fell short of
What a wonderful Jubilee weekend we had for requirements, which included a large amount of maintenance to the School
our dear Queen, who, is of course, an Honorary House and cottage. From letters of the time it appears that the Charity was in
Member of the WI. The spectacular Pageants debt.
and Concerts put on for her entertainment, The cost of a suit made by the village tailor went up from 13/6 to 20 shillings in
especially the 400 Drones demonstrations of a 1903 and that had the Trustees looking at cheaper, ready made articles!
Corgi, jumping Horse and a Teapot were amazing.
(Paradoxically, they also decided to incorporate the Williams crest into the boys
We, in Bere Regis, did her proud and the Exhibition in the Church by local Artists buttons at extra expense!) From the tone of the Vicar’s correspondence it sounds
was truly exceptional. The Quilts, Flowers - several arrangements were done by as though the entire village was suffering hard times.
Members of our WI - the Art, Photographs, Crafts and Poetry all done by Bere In 1906, Mr. Lucas, who had been vicar Southerby’s gardener, vacated the
Regis residents made us realize what exceptional talent we have in the village.
cottage and field on Barrow Hill and went to manage Chalk Pit Farm for Mr. Lys.
Mr. Marsh, who had been sub renting the Rye Hill field from Vicar Southerby,
(paying £6 p.a.), now took on the Barrow Hill and Rye Hill fields directly from the
Charity and started the dairy which continued till recent times.
Problems with collecting rents, tithing, and carrying out and paying for
maintenance seem to have led the Trustees progressively to divest of the land
and properties from the late 19 century onwards.
th
Authority to sell the Doddings assets for not less than £500 was sought and
received from the Charity Commissioners in 1896. We have copies of the release,
especially printed by Eyre and Spottiswode!
Finding the Title Deeds was a major problem. Correspondence indicates that
deeds were missing in 1910 and this was a problem again in the 1970’s.
Of course we must thank all the organisers The last of the properties held by the Trust were sold off in the early 1970’s and
and helpers who helped both before and were those on Barrow Hill including the original Old School House. At the time the
after the show. The Flowers on the Altar and properties were in very poor state of repair and maintenance costs were eating
the Font were outstanding and were equal to up the whole of the income of the Trust.
anything done in Westminster Abbey! If there
is anyone in the village who would be interested in helping with the flowers in 1971 “The Beeches” was sold at auction for £ 3,950 to Gilbert Griffin.
church you would be very welcome - please ring Diane Edmonds -01929 472331. 1972 Old School House itself was sold to Gilbert Griffin for £7,050 at public auction.
1976 The final small cottage was sold for £5,800.
The Bere Regis WI had exhibits showing the various crafts we do and our President
made a large fruit cake beautifully decorated for our Raffle - the proceeds from The monies raised from property sales were invested in Charity Commission
this went to charity - including the local Thomas Williams Educational approved securities to provide a regular income.
Foundation. We would like to think that the general public realize that we do not
spend all our time making jam but we take part in various sports against other WI
Groups (gentle ones, of course!) arrange outings to interesting places and also The Trust Today
arrange guest speakers to our monthly meetings of interest to our Members. We Happily, the extent of poverty and the lack of educational facilities which gave
also have a monthly "Ladies who Lunch" and so far have tried at least 10 local rise to the Trust in 1719 no longer exist. In their place, however, the students of
hostelries with remarkable success! It is nice to meet and chat with our members today face ever rising contributions to the cost of their education.
and discuss ideas for future meetings.

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