I had no real idea what l would find behind the blue shuttering fronting an industrial unit l visited this morning in Corsham – just ten miles into Wiltshire from where l live in Bath.
The two places are connected in one big and very physical way.
Much of the Georgian architectural splendour – in the centre of my home ‘town’ – is built from locally-sourced Bath stone.
And that has been quarried around Corsham and elsewhere in the district since Roman times.
There are still quarries in the area producing stone but not on the scale that saw the 18th-century building of Bath’s fine squares, avenues and crescents.
The late David Pollard – standing at the entrance of Hartham Park Quarry, in Corsham
And it’s from that history that a man called David Pollard amassed the biggest hoard of artifacts reflecting that recent limestone extraction and now his widow has inherited a storeroom that contains the biggest collection of its type in the country.
Nina Pollard explained to me why she wants help now in finding it a proper home.
Helping Nina take care of the collection is a man who knows all about the local history of Bath stone quarrying.
Mike Dodd at one time gave tours at a local quarry – which had closed – where visitors could experience what conditions were like underground.
N.B. As l have already explained, the late David Pollard worked for many years on a history of Bath stone which was published posthumously.
It’s called Digging Bath Stone and can be bought directly from the publishers – Lightmoor Press – http://www.lightmoor.co.uk – or – in Bath – from The Museum of Bath Stone at Combe Down or the Museum of Bath at Work.
If you are able to help the Corsham-based Trust by becoming a volunteer – or trustee – and have skills to offer, then please contact me and l will pass your details on.
rich.wyatt8@gmail.com
