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THE CIVIC OPENING of the Charles Worth Gallery took place last weekend, on
Saturday 22nd April 2006, when Baldock’s Mill in South Street, Bourne, was packed with
visitors to see the latest addition to the Heritage Centre that was established
there more than twenty years ago.
Since then, there has been a perpetual drive to add new attractions, archives,
artefacts and displays that will stimulate interest in the history of this town
and the latest imaginative project has come about mainly through the work of Mrs
Brenda Jones, chairman of the Civic Society which administers the centre, and
her husband Jim, custodian of the mill, who is responsible for much of the
maintenance. It was their idea to commemorate Charles Worth and it is largely
through their efforts that it has come to fruition.
The original idea was to create an exhibition that would appeal directly to
women, in sharp contrast to the other main display room on the first floor
devoted to the life and times of Raymond Mays (1899-1980), the motor racing
pioneer who was born and worked in the town. Her conception was to mount a major
exhibition commemorating the work of another of our famous sons, Charles
Frederick Worth (1825-1895), son of a local solicitor from Wake House, North
Street, who left home as a boy to become a leading fashion
designer and founder of haute couture.
The idea crystallised after Brenda and Jim visited the Victoria and Albert
Museum in the summer of 2005 to see an exhibition devoted to the work of Charles
Worth. "When I got home, I realised that we wanted something similar here in
Bourne", said Brenda.
Her vision was, and it was then little more than a pipe dream, of increasing the
scope of the displays with examples of the magnificent costumes Worth created at
his Paris salon where he dressed some of the world’s most famous women. The perfect
solution would have been to purchase an original dress but they are virtually
unobtainable and all surviving examples are scattered around a dozen museums in
Europe and America.
But photographs exist and last July she appealed though this web site for
seamstresses to copy one of the costumes and she was pleasantly surprised by the
result because several ladies with suitable qualifications replied. Within
weeks, three of them, Claire Hart, Leslie Wade and Deborah Hallam, had begun
regular meetings at the centre, planning the project in minute detail, the
materials, the sewing and the means of display, and by Christmas the project was
well underway.
Lady Jane Willoughby, president of the society, contributed two tailor’s
dummies from the attic at Grimsthorpe House on which the dresses could be
displayed against a mural of Bourne market place, painted by Bourne art student
Luke Ochrombel, aged 17, and all enclosed in a floor to ceiling glass frame made
by local craftsmen. The cost was soon escalating and the Civic Society is not a
wealthy organisation but Jim and Brenda were determined to see their project
completed and, although nothing was said publicly, quietly contributed a
substantial amount towards the final cost from their own pocket.
The dress that has been copied, using material from the period and specially
bought from London, is a style known as Visite and made from off white
silk with braid and bead trimming, originally designed by Worth in 1885 and
bearing the label of his salon at No 7 Rue de la Paix in Paris. This is the
centrepiece of the display with two additional dresses, together with other
costumes and accessories loaned by members and friends including an original
jacket bought from the House of Worth in Paris. Cabinets were added to the new
gallery on the first floor to accommodate all of the exhibits, new shelving
fitted and the walls covered with framed photographs and documents illustrating
Worth’s life and career while a computer in the foyer has been specially
programmed to play a continual pictorial record of his dress designs.
The result is extremely effective and one that fully merited the civic opening
that was performed by the Mayor of Bourne, Councillor Judy Smith, who cut a silk
ribbon at the entrance to the gallery to mark the event. A coveted blue plaque
on the wall of Wake House, erected by English Heritage in December 2002, already
commemorates the birth of Charles Worth and the new gallery is a most impressive
innovation for the Heritage Centre, telling visitors about the life and times of
our famous son. It is also a highly commendable personal achievement for Jim and
Brenda Jones.
The ladies responsible for this magnificent effort do not intend to rest
upon their laurels and feel that the close rapport and working relationship that
has been established by the project, engendered by regular meetings at the
Heritage Centre during which time all have become close personal friends, should
not be wasted. They plan a summer break and then to resume work on yet another
Worth creation, a magnificent dress in red velvet that will enhance the gallery
even further.
PHOTO: Rex Needle
Jim and Brenda Jones - a commendable personal achievement
WRITTEN APRIL 2006 |
