William Barnes Collection

Apart from a very small archive at St John's College, Cambridge, the Dorset Museum & Art Gallery's extensive collection of Barnes material is the only one in existence. Particularly important is the series of Barnes notebooks, which are invaluable for biographical material concerning this most important of English dialect poets. Interestingly, a Barnes book was included in the display of a hundred British writers, at the Festival of Britain in 1951. Barnes was one of the very few modern poets to write in the language of the common people, and the fact in so doing, he attained a very high level of artistic achievement, is amply witnessed by many distinguished literary admirers including Gerard Manley Hopkins, E M Forster and Philip Larkin.

William Barnes encapsulates the social history of an entire English social class over three centuries.  He is probably the only writer to re-create in his work how the rural working class spoke, as well as recording their customs, traditions and daily life.  It covers the social history of agricultural life from the days of Shakespeare until the late 19th Century.

The William Barnes Collection includes correspondence between William Barnes and Julia Miles, during their nine-year courtship, relatives and friends; handwritten Italian diary and original sermons, poetry manuscripts, reviews and clippings, paintings and other realia; photographs of the author, friends and families.

Documents include different editions of published works as well as books from Barnes personal library, and collections bequeathed by Giles Dugdale, Dr Bernard Jones, Trevor Hearl and Clement Denis.

At this stage, there is no web-based catalogue of the collection available. However, the William Barnes Archive is open to researchers for exploration. The William Barnes Collection and Paper Archives are currently located at the Dorset History Centre in Dorchester, where they can be accessed for study and research purposes.

Dorset History Centre is open Wednesday-Friday and the first Saturday of each month. Our library room and family history computer room are available to be used at any time during our opening hours, however, access to original documents or materials in our search room is by appointment only. We offer appointments of up to 3 hours in the mornings

(9.30am-12.30pm) or afternoons (1.30pm-4.30pm) or both on the days we are open. Please note however that our search room closes for one hour between 12.30pm and 1.30pm for staff lunch, although the library and family history computer rooms remain open during this period.

In order to provide the best possible research facility for you, you can write to Dorset History Centre, Bridport Road, Dorchester, Dorset, DT1 1RP or make an appointment by emailing archives@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk.