REPORTS APRIL 2025 100 YEARS OF THE FROME MEMORIAL THEATRE Built to commemorate the Fallen of World War One, FMT is currently celebrating its Centenary by Richard Lines and Humphrey Barnes A very warm welcome was extended to Humphrey Barnes and Richard Lines who came to talk to us about the last 100 years of the Frome Memorial Theatre. Richard and Humphrey came with several display boards and newspaper cuttings for everyone to look at and gave us an idea of the development of the theatre over the last hundred years. The land acquired to build the theatre was originally where Southfield House owned by the Cockey family stood. The building was originally designed in a style known as the wedding cake by PB Rigg but changed to a simpler design and the foundation stone laid by the Marquis of Bath in 1924. The theatre opened in 1925 but was far from being finished. They forgot to include stairs to the balcony for example. The building at that time was used as a dance hall and the meeting place for the operatic society who put on many performances over the years. It also housed a cinema called The Grand between 1931 and 1985. In the 80's the building was sold by the Urban District Council to Mendip District Council who wanted to demolish it to build sheltered housing. A lot of public meetings followed and the fact that it was built in memory of the fallen in World War One helped to save it. The soldier statue cast by JW Singer to represent fallen soldiers was relocated to the front of the theatre a few years ago. He was a Frome man called Charlie Robbins who worked at Singers and Mrs Yeoman financed a plinth for him to stand on. Today the trustees and volunteers maintain the building and ensure that the equipment is of the best quality to enable first class performances to be staged. Humphrey and Richard were thanked for a marvellous trip down memory lane with so many of the audience recognising people in the many photographs. Chris Featherstone MARCH 2025 WHITE HORSES AND HILL FIGURES - HISTORY AND MYSTERY Fertility symbols? Religious markers? Prehistoric? Tony examines theories and beliefs - and some surprising results from scientific explorations by Tony Painter The March meeting of Frome Family History Group was held in the Cheese and Grain. Our speaker was Tony Painter who is well known to us having delivered several talks in the past. His subject was white horses and hill figures, history and mystery. Tony began by explaining that there are many different types of hill chalk designs ranging from figures, horses and other animals, badges and Celtic crosses. These are found all over the country but the greatest concentration can be found in Wiltshire and the Chiltern Hills due to the chalk deposits. We continued by looking in more detail at the most well-known figures including Uffington which is believed to be the oldest hill figure dating back to the Bronze Age and is one of the five wonders of Britain. Following an excavation in 1990, the figure's origin was finally settled with optically stimulated luminescence testing. Simon Palmer and David Miles of the Oxford Archaeological Unit, dated silt deposits to the period between 1380 BC and 550 BC, confirming the Uffington White Horse to be Britain's oldest chalk figure. Until the late nineteenth century it was scoured every seven years. After the work was done a rural festival was held, sponsored by the lord of the manor. Another well-known figure is the Cerne Abbas Giant. The Cerne Abbas Giant has become an important part of local culture and folklore, which often associates it with fertility. Its nudity has caused concern over the centuries and was covered up in Victorian times, however, it was later restored and the subject of a complaint to the home office by Walter Long from Gillingham who said it was an offence under the Obscene Publications Act. His protest was dismissed. The purpose of the ancient hill figures has kept academics and archaeologists theorising over the centuries. Francis Wise, an eighteenth century academic, believed that they could be either phallic, religious, ley markers or monastic. Modern ones include the Bulford Kiwi which was created by commonwealth troops during the First World War. The Bulford Kiwi was cut into Beacon Hill in Bulford by New Zealand troops waiting for a ship to take them back home after the First World War. When the disaffected soldiers threatened to riot, the commanders kept them busy carving the Kiwi. It is still visible today. Tony was thanked for a superb presentation. Chris Featherstone FEBRUARY 2025 THE WORK OF THE COMMONWEALTH WAR GRAVES COMMISSION The history of the CWGC from its origins at the beginning of the First World War to the present day by Mike Nicholas Frome Family History group welcomed Mike Nicholas to tell us about the work of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission at our new venue in the Cheese and Grain. The founder of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission was Sir Fabien Ware who attempted to join the British Army but was rejected as he was considered too old at the age of 47. However, he became the commander of a mobile ambulance unit provided by the British Red Cross Society. In this role he began marking and recording the graves of those killed. In 1915 the Army Department of Graves Commission was founded. In 1917 this became the Imperial War Graves Commission and later the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Ware ended the war as a major-general having been mentioned in despatches twice. Mike produced some extraordinary statistics relating to CWGC. The organisation cares for 1.7 million graves at 23,000 locations in over 150 countries. Many nationalities are remembered including 1,100 Chinese. The largest cemeteries are Tyne Cot in Belgium and Thiepval in Northern France. The Thiepval Memorial was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens and contains the names of 72,000 men. The headstones are mainly made of Portland stone and are exactly the same whether the occupier is a rating or an officer. The inscription follows the same format finishing with the name of the nearest relative with the exception of New Zealand graves who omit the next of kin. Conservation is ongoing and there is a project to restore the Menim Gate. Mike urged everyone to visit the Menim Gate at 8pm where buglers play the Last Post as they have done since the Menim Gate, designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield, was opened in 1927. Mike Nicholas was thanked for a very informative evening. Chris Featherstone JANUARY 2025 SECRET FROME A visual display of surprising, revealing or just plain interesting aspects of Frome by Sue Latham The meeting began with our annual business meeting, the first at the Cheese and Grain. Chris Featherstone, chair, thanked the audience for their continued support over the past year then went on to thank the committee. Our treasurer, Gerry Burdall stood down in April when we welcomed Marilyn McCullough to the committee as treasurer. The audience was asked for their thoughts on both the new venue and suggestions for future speakers. Our speaker for the evening was Sue Latham, a well-known Frome resident and photographer. Her presentation entitled Secret Frome was a selection of her fantastic photos of lesser-known places in Frome together with unusual facts and figures relating to the images. We started in Portway by looking at those houses numerically numbered up to number 5. The next house on the row is number 11, then 12, 13, 14 etc. Where were the missing numbers? An extremely narrow gap between 5 and 11 leads to a row of beautiful old cottages, the missing 6,7,8,9 and 10 houses. Still in Portway we looked at the quirky building that was the Marble and Stone Works established in 1805 by Joseph Chapman. We went on to look at a selection of cottages and terraces some with challenging access making us wonder how they got their furniture to the front door. Sue told us about Royal visitors, firstly the Prince and Princess of Wales in 1881 followed by Prince George and Princess Mary in 1909. The Prince and Princess of Wales travelled along the Portway where the school children from the workhouse cheered them on. Cockey and Sons were asked to provide railings to prevent people from falling off the edge of Coal Ash Walk. The town bridge is one of only three bridges in Britain to have shops on it. The other two are Pultney Bridge in Bath and High Bridge in Lincoln. There has been a bridge on this site since at least 1540 when it was made of stone and supported five arches. Victoria Park was our next destination. There is a plaque on the base of a large oak tree that was planted in 1911 in honour of James Matra who was a midshipman on the voyage to Botany Bay with Captain James Cook. The New South Wales prime minister came to Frome to plant the commemorative oak. Sue's talk covered many more locations than can be described here. Chris Featherstone