From the archive: Working Parties at St Mary’s Church Tower,Compton Abbas, Dorset

For Explore Your Archives week we’re celebrating stories from our past. For today’s theme of Party we looked at our archive file on our first Working Parties, which took place at this important medieval site. 

Our Working Parties are a fun way to learn traditional building skills from expert craftspeople in a relaxed setting, and repair a historic building in need. We’ve owned this medieval church tower since 1983, when about 20 SPAB staff and volunteers gathered one summer to clear and repair the site.

The church tower in the 1990s. credit: SPAB archive.

All that survives of St Mary's church is its 15th century Grade I-listed tower. This stands within a small, picturesque churchyard, which also contains listed tombs and boundary walls. The whole site is a scheduled monument.

An invitation to join the Working Party in 1984. Credit: SPAB archive.

Our archive files held no photos but, as food (especially cake) continues to be a key element of SPAB Working Parties, we were pleased to discover that the menus survive. Attendees enjoyed a wealth of fortifying food including marmalade, hard boiled eggs, baked ham, homemade quiche and steak and kidney pudding, strawberries and of course, plenty of cake.

A menu for the Working Party in 1984. Credit: SPAB archive.

We’re very fortunate that a wonderful band of local volunteers with the SPAB Dorset group continue to maintain the site, holding mini Working Parties and picnics there.

Volunteers gather to repair the site in 2019. Credit: Iain Boyd

Volunteers repair the boundary wall. Credit: Iain Boyd

sandwiches for lunch arrive! Credit: Iain Boyd

Interested in volunteering for our Working Parties? Subscribe to our practical volunteering mailings list or subscribe for emails from our Dorset regional group.