Your Projects
Rosemary Collins talks to the organiser of a volunteer project to unearth the history of Gillingham’s old buildings
Unearthing the history of Gillingham’s old buildings
Gillingham Museum is dedicated to telling the stories of this Dorset town. Two years ago, assistant curator Dr John Porter came up with a project to help residents uncover the history of where they live. John says, “I had the idea of recording all of our historical buildings in the town, something that we could divide up between us as a team. We could produce a record of all of the older buildings in Gillingham, and say something about them.”
Gillingham Local History Society began the project in early 2018. Over the next two years, the volunteers recorded about 350 buildings – all of those built before 1920.
“Gillingham is a town with a mixed history. Its oldest buildings date from the 18th century, but much of the built heritage goes back to Victorian times, when the town prospered following the coming of the railway,” John explains. “There is a mix of housing and commercial buildings of different periods. Gillingham is not a ‘scenic’ town and is not on the tourist trail, but the diversity of buildings close together gives it distinctiveness and interest.”
However, the project wasn’t just about the buildings’ architectural characteristics: “We also wanted to know about the people who lived in our buildings or owned them, what they did for a living, and as much of the history of occupation and uses that we could find. The recording was supported by considerable research from historical sources, notably old maps, censuses, trade directories, and notices in newspapers.
“In addition, a number of people generously allowed us to examine their house deeds, which has enabled us to produce complete house histories for a small number of buildings. Others have contributed their memories and other material.”
The volunteers discovered many interesting stories of Gillingham residents throughout the years. For example, the local hardware store now known as Crockers has been in operation for nearly 140 years – it was established by Edwin Robert Stickland in 1882. Detailed records shared by Edwin’s descendant Peter Crocker even revealed the income from the opening day’s trading: 7s 5d from the sale of a bucket and nails, a mousetrap and a hoe.
The volunteers compiled their findings into the Historic Buildings Register, which is now available to view in print and digital form at the museum. In March, they finished the project with a two-day exhibition ‘Heritage, Buildings and People’, which was held nearby at Gillingham Library.
“The society was very pleased with the public response to the exhibition,” John reports. “There was a steady flow of people throughout the week, with many visitors taking advantage of the opportunity to see our museum – some for the first time, even though they might have lived here for years. Some of the visitors live in the houses shown, and were able to provide additional information.”
At the time of writing, Gillingham Museum is closed because of the coronavirus lockdown. However, John hopes that the project will be able to live on: “When things have returned to normal the exhibition will be remounted in the museum, with one area of the town on display at a time.”
‘We wanted to know about the people who lived in our buildings or owned them’