A new public art project for the Bellway housing development on Semington Road is making good progress says Melksham Without Parish Council.
The council reports, “As part of the legal agreement with the planning permission is funding from the developer specifically for a public art project. The parish council has now held a couple of meetings with a steering group consisting of members of Melksham Without Parish Council, BASRAG (Berryfield & Semington Road Action Group), the management committee of the existing temporary portacabin village hall in Berryfield, the art consultant appointed by Wiltshire Council, members of the Wilts & Berks Canal Trust and the village hall architect.
“Running through the housing development is the protected line of the original Wilts & Berks canal and one of the conditions of the planning permission is that its identification and historical significance is recognised, and there will be some interpretation/signage to mark the heritage of the canal. The canal theme was taken up by the parish council when naming the roads in the development, which are all named after historic canal engineers. This includes Whitworth as Robert Whitworth, and then his son William, were both lead engineers for the construction of the Wilts & Berks canal.
“Plans for the public art are for a brick relief on one external face of the new village hall to depict a canal scene, and hopefully another face to reflect other aspects of Berryfield with creative community events planned to engage with those who live in the area to see what their views are. This could be related to Berryfield once being home to the married and women’s quarters for those based at the neighbouring RAF camp at Bowerhill, investigations into whether there ever were berries farmed in the fields, and what the existing community of Berryfield and Semington Road feel depicts their ‘sense of place.’
“It’s an exciting creative project, that all the members of the steering group are keen to progress, and are looking forward to the next stages of commissioning an artist, and hosting some creative events with the local community.”
Pictures: Rod Harris. Brick relief. South Gloucestershire
![Melksham Times Past
A column about days gone by in Melksham by local historian Lisa Ellis
The Independent Chapel and Women’s Rights in the 1840s
A document I recently transcribed lists the baptisms performed at the Independent Chapel. This record is especially helpful in that, along with baptisms, a lot of them include birth dates - one of the ways I discover which day someone was born.
The following is taken from a Wiltshire Times article published on 9th November 1878 which reports a speech given during the 100-year services and to celebrate their renovations (what we now know to be the Rachel Fowler Centre).
One speaker, Rev. T. Mann, minister in Trowbridge, talked about the Chapel’s origins when he related how Rev. Honywill came to Melksham and how he’d gone on to remain as the minister for the Independent Chapel for almost 60 years. [Honywill and his family lived on King Street in what we now call “Legion House”.]
Read more on our website, the link is in our bio.](https://scontent-lhr6-1.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.75761-15/505444438_18038424887647822_3264519508333556874_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_e35_tt6&_nc_cat=110&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=18de74&_nc_ohc=gXZQJoHTNiEQ7kNvwHezuPI&_nc_oc=AdlrJvMDapuork_EjycPOcegNeMnCA37GEIudkxkTeCfTgvB5iijE05ojpwlYCd5gN8&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent-lhr6-1.cdninstagram.com&edm=ANo9K5cEAAAA&_nc_gid=0ZY31jxOGx2M8z1ZqYNvEg&oh=00_AfPY_C0B8EndpVcx78sVp9qVJgtm368WREf36ZX1_jO3mg&oe=6855C74A "Melksham Times Past
A column about days gone by in Melksham by local historian Lisa Ellis
The Independent Chapel and Women’s Rights in the 1840s
A document I recently transcribed lists the baptisms performed at the Independent Chapel. This record is especially helpful in that, along with baptisms, a lot of them include birth dates - one of the ways I discover which day someone was born.
The following is taken from a Wiltshire Times article published on 9th November 1878 which reports a speech given during the 100-year services and to celebrate their renovations (what we now know to be the Rachel Fowler Centre).
One speaker, Rev. T. Mann, minister in Trowbridge, talked about the Chapel’s origins when he related how Rev. Honywill came to Melksham and how he’d gone on to remain as the minister for the Independent Chapel for almost 60 years. [Honywill and his family lived on King Street in what we now call “Legion House”.]
Read more on our website, the link is in our bio.")
