History
LOST DORSET
NO. 20 SHAFTESBURY
U
David Burnett, The Dovecote Press
ntil the late Victorian period water in Dorset’s towns was provided by private companies, many of them short-lived. In Poole, Beaminster and Shaftesbury the water was turned off every night at six o’clock, and only turned on again at eight in the morning. But all were at the mercy of the weather. Although the sinking of a well on land given by the Grosvenors had solved the ancient problem of providing water to a hilltop town, Shaftesbury’s water was supplied to pumps in the streets, which regularly froze in winter. Peach’s the barbers were the only people with water in Salisbury Street during a sudden cold snap in February 1895. Note the yoke and 17 gallon milk churns amongst the buckets. Lost Dorset: The Towns 1880-1920, the companion volume to Lost Dorset: The Villages and Countryside, is a 220-page large format hardback, price £20, and is available locally from Winstone’s Books or directly from the publishers. dovecotepress.com
58 | Sherborne Times | February 2022
