Tolpuddle novelist Brent Shore talks on his trilogy, from Peterloo to the Great War, at the Old Chapel at 7.30pm on 4 November. Entry free, donations shared.

Tolpuddle author Brent Shore will give a free talk at Tolpuddle Old Chapel at 7.30pm on Wednesday 4 November, a Remembrance season event built around his trilogy of historical novels that runs from 1819 to the end of the First World War.

The evening is called From Peterloo to the Great War: 1819 to 1919 in a Trilogy of Novels. It is free and open to anyone, with refreshments, and donations on the night will be split equally between the Tolpuddle Old Chapel Trust and the Royal British Legion.

The books

Shore has published eight novels. The trilogy, in the trust’s words, “charts a hundred years of social change, beginning with the Chartist movement and demands for voting rights, moving through the Victorian era of scientific progress and expanding trade, and concluding with the rising tensions in Ireland and Europe that foreshadow the Great War.”

On the night he will concentrate on the last of the three, Cheshire Cheese and Camembert, which is set in northern France in 1918. The trust describes it as following “conscripted British soldiers attempting to hold the line as the war reaches its devastating climax, enriched with letters home from the trenches and fragments of poetry that capture the emotional cost of conflict.”

The cob and brick gable end of Tolpuddle Old Chapel, with a boarded upper window and a small paned window below, during its restoration
The gable end of the Old Chapel, with cob walls on a brick base, during its restoration. Photo: supplied by Tolpuddle Old Chapel Trust

The chapel

The venue has its own place in the Tolpuddle story. The Old Chapel was built in 1818 as a Wesleyan Methodist chapel by the Standfield and Loveless families, men later known as the Tolpuddle Martyrs. The trust says it is one of only two surviving cob-built Methodist chapels in the UK and “the earliest physical link to the Martyrs’ story”. It is Grade II* listed.

The trust, a registered charity run by volunteers, saved the building from dereliction and restored it, and now uses it for talks, exhibitions and community events. It says keeping the chapel open costs £10,000 a year and that it relies on donations to do so. For anyone who has not yet been inside, the trust says the evening is a chance to see “this remarkable 200-year-old building, once again full of life, learning, and community spirit.”

What it means for you

  • When: Wednesday 4 November 2026, 7.30pm.
  • Where: Tolpuddle Old Chapel, 59a Main Road, Tolpuddle, DT2 7ET. The trust’s visit page says there is free parking on the road outside, and asks visitors not to block neighbours’ driveways.
  • Cost: free, no booking mentioned. Refreshments available.
  • Donations: optional, shared equally between the chapel’s running costs and the Royal British Legion.

More from the trust at tolpuddleoldchapeltrust.org and on Bluesky at @tolpuddleoct.bsky.social. For other dates this month, see What’s On in Dorset.