Broadwindsor Gallery Quire
Thomas Hardy
We often say our music is roughly from the Thomas Hardy period (although much of it dates from earlier). Thomas Hardy was a member of the West Gallery Quire at Stinsford Church, near Dorchester, where he played the violin. His book ‘Under The Greenwood Tree’ is centred around the ‘Melstock Quire’, the inspiration coming from his days in Stinsford (Melstock is Hardy’s name for Stinsford.) Hardy’s heart is buried at Stinsford, and the rest of his body in Westminster Abbey.
St John’s Gallery Quire in the 19th century
Broadwindsor’s St John’s church (full title: The Parish Church of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist) had its own West Gallery Quire up to its restoration in 1867, when most of the church was demolished. In fact, it had a double west gallery (dating from the late 17th or early 18th century), with the lower being available for men who did not have pews, while the upper was for the singers and players of the choir. In his booklet entitled ‘A guide to the Parish Church of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, Broadwindsor, Dorset’ published in 1991 (based on earlier publications), Rev. Richard Thornburgh states that any villagers who had an instrument and could play it were part of the group, with the main instruments being violins, flutes and a violincello. One parishioner, a Mr. Clift, played the violincello but the instrument belonged to the parish. The Vicar commented that when the lower notes were played, the pillars would tremble! The parish paid for the violin strings and bridges, with the bill between August 1846 and February 1848 coming in at £1. 7s. 2d. A bit of investigation online via Ancestry confirms a John Clift living in the parish at the time. He was a blacksmith and baker; was he also the village cellist?
The current Broadwindsor Gallery Quire seeks to preserve, honour and celebrate the music of those who went before us. It is a living piece of local history.
Our Recent History
Broadwindsor Gallery Quire was formed in March 2024 by some members of the old Beaminster Gallery Quire, originally founded by Ron Emett in the 1990’s. The Covid epidemic brought about the end of the Beaminster Gallery Quire, but as the rehearsals had always taken place in Broadwindsor, the new group adopted the village’s name.
The BGQ currently has 18 members on the books, including a four-piece band. We often perform in Victorian costume. We welcome new singers and players to come and give us a try! In 2024, we performed at the Broadwindsor Harvest Supper and the Christmas Carol service St John’s church, Broadwindsor.
In 2025 we took part in Broadwindsor’s Oak Apple Weekend (May 31), leading the parade and performing West Gallery hymns and anthems on the village green (Bernards’ Place). We were also delighted to take part, with other quires, in ‘Going The Rounds’ on December 11th and 12th. This was a joint venture with the New Hardy Players in Dorchester and organised by the Hardy Society, in which we played and sang the carols and songs from Hardy’s ‘Under the Greenwood Tree’. The first night was performed as a concert in Stinsford Church, with the following night re-enacting Hardy’s story round Stinsford Village.
2026 was begun with a celebration of Twelfth Night carols in The White Lion pub, Broadwindsor on 3rd January.
