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Tolpuddle Old Chapel Trust,
The Old Chapel, 59a Main Rd.,
Tolpuddle,
Dorchester,
DT2 7ET

Board Vacancies

The Tolpuddle Old Chapel Trust is seeking expressions of interest in joining its Board of Trustees. We currently have two vacancies, following the retirement of the current Chair, Professor Philip Martin and Tobias Carleton-Prangnell who have served for six and two years respectively.

If you have an interest in heritage buildings and a few hours a week to spare, to work with the existing trustees to help shape and develop the Chapel’s potential, this opportunity could be for you.

You can find out more about being a charity trustee here.

Download further details here.

Time and Tide, To Win the Day. Saturday 8th March

Tolpuddle Village Hall. 6.30 for 7pm

This joint event from TOCT and Tolpuddle Village Hall sees Sophie Wright and her Tide and Time theatre company performing her play, To Win the Day. This powerful folk-drama depicts the extraordinary lives of the wives, mothers and families of the Tolpuddle Martyrs through local folk music of the time. Originally, the performance was due to be performed in the Old Chapel as part of our Historic England project, ‘Tolpuddle Family’ but was postponed due to illness. The staging in the village hall provides the opportunity for a larger audience, and a pay bar will be available.

Tickets are £5 and available from Ian Cray. iancray@icloud.com or 07941 645303.

The Chapel is now closed for the winter period (see below for further details). We are sorry to announce that Angela Herrera, our Delivery Manager, is no longer working for the Trust. We owe Angela a huge vote of thanks for her dedication and tireless support over the last two years. We will miss her greatly. She was a vital member of the team and responsible for so many things including setting up our craft workshops, bookings, and administering our events. Much of Angela’s work was behind the scenes in her comprehensive overhaul and composition of our policy framework which ensures our standing with our regulators, aligning and co-ordinating a wide range of activities, and leading on our educational offer.

For the time being, enquiries about bookings should be sent to the Chair, Philip Martin, at deliverymanager@tolpuddleoldchapeltrust.org.

We have recently completed our successful project funded by Historic England: ‘Tolpuddle Family Lives’. This was part of Historic England’s national programme, ‘Everyday Heritage: Celebrating Working-Class Histories’ and we are very proud to have been part of the programme, and we wish to record our sincere thanks to Historic England here for their support. This funding enabled us to put on over fifty events and activities in total between March and November in 2024 without charge.

Tolpuddle Festival 2024

Saturday 20th July at 4:00pm
A talk by Professor Philip Martin:
‘George Loveless, ultra-radicalism and the Tolpuddle Context’
Read more
Click here to watch the video