Dedication
of a blue plaque to
Sabine
Baring-Gould
by
at
Chichester Place Exeter
20
March 2020
Programme
and details of participants
Programme
of events
1.45 Start
to assemble outside Gilbert Stephens, 16 Southernhay West.
Please
keep a good distance from each other.
2.00 Welcome
by Exeter
Unveiling of blue plaque to Sabine Baring-Gould.
Announcement of grants by Kent Kingdon Bequest.
2.15 Close
of event.
Exhibition of books, broadside ballads and
manuscripts.
Recital of folk songs by Wren Music.
Southernhay Church Hall.
Cancelled because of Covid-19 lock-down.
Southernhay Church Hall.
Cancelled because of Covid-19 lock-down.
It
is hoped to hold an event celebrating Sabine Baring-Gould and his contribution
to folk song and popular culture at a later date.
Two of Sabine Baring-Gould's song men
Programme compiled by Ian Maxted for
Sabine
Baring-Gould 1834-1924
Some key dates from a long and full life.
1834 28 Jan. Born in Chichester Place , Exeter
1852 Admitted to Cambridge
1857 Teacher at Hurstpierpoint College
1862 Travelled round Iceland
1864 Ordained, curate at Horbury, Yorkshire .
1868 Married Grace Taylor, daughter of a mill-hand.
1869-1891 15 children born to Grace and Sabine.
1871 Rector of East Mersea ,
Essex.
1872 Inherited Lewtrenchard estate in Devon .
1881 Appointed himself to the living of Lewtrenchard.
1888 Started to collect folk songs, published
1889-1891.
1893 Started excavation of hut-circles on Dartmoor .
1916 Grace died, buried in Lewtrenchard churchyard.
1924 2 Jan. Died at Lewtrenchard, buried with Grace.
Details of participants
The Society is proud to be erecting a blue plaque to celebrate
this notable person who was born in Exeter
The Civic Society’s blue plaques scheme is dedicated to putting up
new plaques and creating interest in all the plaques and other monuments that
mark links between historic people and the city. Discovering commemorative plaques
to famous Exonians and other notable figures connected with the city is a great
way to explore Exeter
Celebrating the history of Exeter Exeter ; and to secure the preservation, protection,
development and improvement of features of historic or public interest in Exeter
Gilbert Stephens
Gilbert Stephens, on whose premises
the Sabine Baring-Gould blue plaque is placed, is a leading firm of Exeter
They take their responsibility to supporting and
contributing to the community seriously, participating in local fundraising
events to support local branches of FORCE Cancer Charity, McMillan Cancer
Charity, Exeter YMCA and WESC Foundation as well as local art shows, brass
bands, choral societies, sporting events and many other activities.
Leander Architectural
Leander Architectural and The Royal Label
Factory who made the blue plaque are long established businesses producing high
quality signage and structures. The RLF dates back to 1874 and Leander to
1986, with the two businesses merging in 1998. Some of their customers have
worked with them for more than 50 years and they have made signs for the
National Trust for 80 years. They have been making blue plaques for Exeter
Civic Society for several years.
Over time many aspects of their work have changed with
the advent of computer graphics, laser cutting and etching, but old crafts
such as sand-casting are still used. They have
been making high quality cast plaques in iron, bronze, aluminium and brass for
over 140 years. All the high-silicon aluminium used in their blue plaques
is 100% recycled metal, reducing the environmental
impact of their castings. The mould for the Baring-Gould plaque is displayed as
well as a series of images illustrating the production of an earlier Civic
Society plaque.
Wren Music
Wren Music, who were scheduled to perform
after the unveiling, is a community arts organisation based in Okehampton who
have been working with people across Devon since 1983 celebrating cultural
identities through traditional music. The work of Sabine Baring-Gould has long inspired their work and
they have for many years run workshops, festivals and other events linked to
him.
Following the
rediscovery by Wren of important folk song manuscripts of Sabine Baring-Gould
at Killerton in 1992 they set up the Baring-Gould Heritage Project which
microfilmed all his known folk song manuscripts in 1998. Most of these items were later digitised, again
through Wren, for the Devon Traditions project in 2009/11 and images and
indexes of folk songs were made available on the English Folk Dance and Song
Society's website:
Sabine
Baring-Gould Folk Song Archive
The archive
was gathered together by the Wren Trust through the Baring-Gould Heritage
Project which microfilmed all the items then identified in 1998. Most items were digitised, again
by Wren, for the Devon Traditions project in 2009/11 and images and
indexes of folk songs were made available on the English Folk Dance and Song
Society's website. The
Sabine Baring-Gould folk song archive is made up as follows:
SBG1 Devon
Heritage Centre (formerly at Killerton)
SBG1/1-3 Personal copy
manuscript. 3 volumes (compiled ca. 1889-1893).
SBG1/4-7 Songs and
ballads of the West. 4 parts. Interleaved & annotated.
SBG1/8 Garland
SBG2 Devon
Heritage Centre (notebooks formerly at Killerton)
SBG2/1-3 Working
notebooks 2-4 (formerly Killerton notebooks 1-3).
SBG2/4 Emily
Baring-Gould's manuscript song book.
SBG3 Plymouth
and West Devon Record Office
SBG3/1 Fair copy
manuscript (compiled 1892).
SBG3/2 Working notebook
1 (formerly Plymouth
SBG3/3 Composition
notebook (formerly Plymouth
SBG3/4-16 Rough copy
notebooks volumes 1-11, 13-14.
SBG4 Popular literature (Devon
Heritage Centre, printed)
SBG4/1/1-3 Chapbooks
(3 volumes).
SBG4/2/1-7 Ballads
(7 volumes).
SBG4/3 Broadsides (1
volume).
SBG5 Harvard
SBG5 Ballads and songs collected by the Rev.
S. Baring-Gould,
chiefly in Devonshire , and sent by him to Prof. F.J. Child.
Patten Archive available through the National Sound Archive
The National Sound Archive, a department within the
British Library, includes some 6,500 field recordings of traditional songs,
music, storytelling and customs made between 1969 to 2001 mainly in the south
west of England , in Somerset , Dorset, Devon and Cornwall
The Patten Archive includes original performances of West Gallery
Music, Shape Note Singing, and carols as well as recordings of traditions such
as wassailing, children's rhymes, songs and games and interviews about rural
life. The Archive also comprises music manuscripts of the 19th century, slides,
photographs, video recordings and research notes. In future years the Archive
will be housed in the Taunton
The archive continued to grow after 2001
and is a worthy continuation of the pioneering work of Sabine Baring-Gould.
Like his collections, the Patten collection can be enjoyed by everyone.
Lewtrenchard
Manor
Lewtrenchard Manor was
built in the 1620s but was altered considerably by Sabine Baring-Gould who resided there for many years. In 1872 he
inherited the family estates of Lewrenchard, which comprised 3,000 acres, and
the gift of the living of Lewtrenchard parish. When the living became vacant in
1881 he was able to appoint himself as parson and he lived there until his
death in 1924.
The house contains a
significant part of the Baring-Gould library and also the Shacklock Collection
of books relating to Sabine Baring-Gould. It is now a hotel and can be visited
to enjoy the house, the church of Saint Peter , where Sabine and his wife Grace are
buried, as well as the beautiful grounds and the recently rediscovered Forgotten Garden
The Devon Heritage
Centre holds all types of historical archives relating to the county of Devon
and the City of Exeter
The Westcountry Studies
Library contains many volumes by or about Sabine Baring-Gould and the Record
Office hold
(on loan from the Baring-Gould Corporation) the greater part of the Baring-Gould
manuscript collection, much of which was formerly housed in Killerton.
Friends of Devon 's Archives
The Friends of Devon's
Archives was founded in 1998 to promote the preservation and use of historical
records throughout Devon and to raise public
awareness of their importance for research and education. It provides financial
support for the acquisition of Devon documents, arranges a programme of
lectures and volunteer projects, and liaises closely with the local record
offices in Devon to improve standards of care
and availability of the county's written heritage. Its newsletter includes
details of current projects and lists of recent acquisitions by archives in the
county of Devon
and city of Plymouth
Kent Kingdon Bequest
The Kent Kingdon Bequest exists to
purchase books for the Exeter Public Library and works of art for the Royal Albert
Memorial Museum
in Exeter Exeter Devon traditions digitisation project and to
the Westcountry Studies Library for retrospective purchases to fill gaps caused
by the years of austerity.
The Special Collections
department manages the University's collections of unique and rare materials,
which include archives, manuscripts, and rare books. Material in their
collections is available for everyone - students, staff and external
researchers – to access in the Ronald Duncan reading room. The collections
cover a wide range of subjects, including Arab and Islamic Studies; Art History
and Visual Culture; Business Studies; Drama; English; Geography; History;
Literary Studies; Local Studies; Modern Languages; Politics; and Theology and
Religion.
It also includes a
major part of the Baring-Gould library, which was transferred from Killerton in
2012. The contents have recently been recatalogued by qualified volunteer staff
and sets of volumes long broken between the University, Devon Heritage Centre
and Lewtrenchard Manor reunited. The web address below homes in on the 1,800
records in the Baring-Gould collection.
Devon
and Exeter
The Institution was established in 1813
at its present home in 7 Cathedral Close. Established "… for promoting the
general diffusion of Science, Literature and the Arts, and for illustrating the
Natural and Civil History of the county
of Devon and the History of the City
of Exeter
Devon bibliography
Established in its present form in 2015 to
complete Devon's publishing record, which had been disrupted by austerity
measures affecting the library service, the Devon bibliography picks up on the annual publications produced from
1985 to 2005 by the Westcountry Studies Library. Based on the old catalogue of
the Westcountry Studies Library, it is supplemented by the British national bibliography, JISC discovery hub, WorldCat etc. It now contains some 100,000
records: 55,000 books, 500 newspapers, 1,800 periodicals, 8,500 articles, 500
theses, 3,500 non-archival manuscripts, 17,000 maps and 4,000 illustrations
(mainly published prints) held in collections across Devon
and beyond. It is currently
the work of one individual and cannot be maintained indefinitely. Perhaps the
UNESCO city of literature initiative will find it an institutional home back in
a library where it belongs.
It includes
a full listing of works in Baring-Gould's Library split between the University of Exeter ,
the Devon Heritage Centre and Lewtrenchard Manor, and also locations in Plymouth
Sabine
Baring-Gould Appreciation Society
The Society was established by David
Shacklock in 1989. The purpose of the Society was to enable those interested in
Sabine Baring-Gould and his work to share their enthusiasm and to spread that
enthusiasm among others.
Two publications were produced by SBGAS:
the Newsletter was issued in
February, June and October each year and Transactions,
produced annually from 2001 to 2018. Archived copies can be read on the
website. The Society also organised an annual meeting in lcations linked to
Sabine Baring-Gould both inside and outside Devon .
The
Society was wound up in 2019. Its website is being maintained in the medium
term and contains much valuable material. A relationship with former members is
being maintained and Martin Graebe remains a point of contact for those who
wish to know more about Baring-Gould and his work.
www.sbgas.org [problems in accessing site June 2020]
Mint
Press
Mint Press has recently published a book
on Uncle Tom Cobley and all, as
well as many other works on Devon and its
heritage.
Mint Press was
established in 2000 by Todd Gray and by 2020 has published some fifty titles
relating to Devon , mainly written by Todd
himself.
He studied for
a doctorate at the University
of Exeter University of Exeter Britain , has spoken widely on Devon's history
and campaigned for Devon's heritage, recently for the Royal Clarence
Hotel
Roger Bristow
Dr Roger Bristow is a geologist who worked
for the British Geological Survey. This has made him an expert in assessing
Sabine Baring-Gould's interest in geology and he has contributed on this to the
Transactions of the Sabine
Baring-Gould Appreciation Society, for which body he served for some time as
editor.
His main contribution to the heritage of Sabine
Baring-Gould is A bibliography of the
works of Sabine Baring-Gould, a mammoth task. The introduction reveals
quite what a prolific writer Sabine Baring-Gould was. Between 1852 and 1924 he wrote at least 1153 works in all. In addition to books
and pamphlets this total included articles published in 235 magazines, journals
and newspapers throughout the world.
Martin Graebe
Martin researches, writes, and gives talks about traditional song.
An important part of this work has been his study of Sabine Baring-Gould’s
pioneering project to document the songs of the ordinary people of Devon and Cornwall Cornwall
Martin contributed many articles to the publications of the Sabine
Baring-Gould Appreciation Society (SBGAS), of which he was the chairman and
Transactions Editor until 2019. He was also the editor of the SBGAS website (www.sbgas.org),
which continues to be maintained as a source of information for those with an
interest in Sabine Baring-Gould. He edits an occasional newsletter Onward! for former members of the
Society.
Martin
and his wife, Shan, perform traditional songs, many from the Baring-Gould
collection. They also maintain two other websites, one on the folk songs
collected by Sabine Baring-Gould and the other on their own musical activities
David Shacklock
David Shacklock is an enthusiast for
Sabine Baring Gould who was the prime mover in setting up the Sabine
Baring-Gould Appreciation Society in 1989. For many years he collected works by
Sabine Baring-Gould, both separately published and issued as articles in
complete volumes of magazines. He also collected works which contained
references to Baring-Gould and places where he lived. This collection of more
than 1,000 items was donated to the Baring Gould Heritage Trust at Lewtrenchard
Manor in 2018 and is listed in the Devon
Bibliography.
Norman Wallwork
Rev Prebendary Norman
Wallwork is an authority on Baring Gould’s writings, particularly his hymns.
The more than eighty hymns and carols he has identified are listed with texts
and historical details in his booklet Most
highly favoured lady, the translations and hymns of Sabine Baring-Gould : an
annotated anthology, a first draft
of which appeared in 2013. The 2014 issue of the Transactions of the Sabine Baring-Gould Appreciation Society
includes an article by Norman Wallwork on Sabine Baring-Gould's hymns.
Ron
Wawman
Ron Wawman is a retired psychiatrist cum local
historian and playwright whose biographical community play about Baring-Gould Like a buoy that in 2007 was produced in
West Devon by Red Spider Company. Never completely submerged, looks at
Sabine’s life through the diary written by Sabine, transcribed by Ron Wawman
and was published in 2009. His website also features much other little known
and unpublished material written by Sabine. Between them they shine light into
corners of this important 19th century polymath's life, that are not
illuminated by either his own Reminiscences
or by the biographies that have been written about him. He formed the Friends
of the Forgotten Garden of Lew Trenchard which can now be enjoyed by visitors
to Sabine Baring-Gould's home.
This display is promoted as an example of
the type of event that the UNESCO city of literature will encourage, linking
individuals and groups to celebrate Exeter and Devon 's thousand year literary heritage. It is hoped any
future event celebrating Sabine Baring-Gould and rededicating the plaque could
form part of the four year programme due to be launched at the Exeter Festival
in July.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Widecombe Fair
From the personal copy
manuscript held by the Devon Heritage Centre
English Folk Dance and
Song Society website
with permission from
the Baring-Gould Heritage Trust
The wandering bard from Exeter
Broadside ballad from Sabine Baring-Gould's collection
Now in the British Library: L.R.271.a.2, Vol.6, fo.206
Long song seller
from Henry Mayhew's London labour and the London
This page last updated 3 June 2020
