View Hampshire Archives Trust first on-line talk ‘Tales from the Tower’ by Dr Cheryl Butler, held on Tuesday 2 June at 7pm.
Despite the talk being the first on line event put on by HAT it was rated very successful, and attended by some 34 HAT members and visitors. There was much appreciation on the night through the chat button, and a number of congratulatory e mails subsequently. This was a new initiative which proved to be of considerable interest during this time of social distancing.
This talk was introduced by Sue Woolgar, secretary of the Hampshire Archives Trust, and was by Hampshire Archives Trust trustee Dr Cheryl Butler who tells the history of the historic God’s House Tower Southampton, from its beginnings in the middle ages to its current incarnation as an arts & heritage centre. The talk ‘Tales from the Tower’ covered not just the physical building but the stories of some of the hundreds of people who lived, worked, were imprisoned and inspired by the tower.
HAT awarded a grant for the project ‘God’s House Tower; the Old Gaol’, to feature newly digitised archive material and an exhibition. Members were looking forward to an April visit to see and hear more about it. Sadly we had to cancel this due to the lockdown restrictions so it was timely hear more in this talk about the Tower and its new incarnation.
Dr Cheryl Butler is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, Honorary Fellow of the University of Winchester and is a member of the editorial board for the Southampton Records Series and the Hampshire Papers. She is also a trustee of HAT.
She has published a number of books and papers which have drawn upon the archives from the Southampton Record Office and Hampshire Archives including three Southampton Records Series volumes on the Southampton Mayors Book of Fines; the oral history of Itchen Ferry Village We only wore shoes on Sunday; a book on Tudor Southampton: Rioters, Revellers & Reformers; Jane Austen & Southampton Spa and Powder, Prisoners & Paintings – The Story of God’s House Tower.
Winner of the British Association of Local History personal achievement award in 2014 and the City of Southampton award in 2018 for services to heritage
New Publication Coming soon St Mary-Over-The-Water: The story of Pear Tree Church
Sue Woolgar Secretary to Hampshire Archives Trust
More information is available in the case study on this website God`s House Tower Southampton.