[Flower Festival 2000]

The Millennium

A Flower Festival for 2000.

As part of Fovant's celebrations of the Millennium, Mrs Valerie Heal and others organised a Flower and Arts Festival to be held in the parish church of St George. The flower arrangements were on the theme of the Changing Scenes of Life.

On the 17th of September 2000, Colin Heal took his video camera around the impressive display of flower arrangements, to record the event and the hard work that made it possible.

On this page you will find a number of snapshots extracted from the video, together with the commentary that Colin added as he walked round. Click on each thumbnail photo to see an enlargement and then use the Back button on your browser to return to this page.

Gill and Bill Nevill also took some photographs of the floral displays and these have been added to the web page.

Wedding.	Virgin Mary.	Cricket.	Village Band.
Fovant School and Fovant Rainbow Centre.	Baptism.	Blacksmith.	Bee Keeping.
Pedestal.	Bakery.	Death and Resurrection.	St. George.
The lectern in Memoriam.	Australian Memorial.	British Memorial.	Farming.
Farming (in the right of the porch).	Watercress Beds, Trout Farm & Fishing Club	Villagers and visitors to the Festival.	Mrs Valerie Heal.

Descriptions of the Flower Arrangements in the Church were included in the original programme for the Fovant Millennium Flower and Arts Festival. They are repeated here:

Wedding – Mary Lovell
Jesus’s ministry contained many miracles. Atl the wedding in Canaan he changed the water into wine. Hundreds of weddings have taken place in this church. The most recent was on 12th August this year.
Virgin Mary – Marika Edge
This arrangement includes lilies, the symbol of the Virgin. The land on which the church stands was granted in 993AD by Keith Aethwel to the Convent Church of St Mary at Wilton.
Cricket- – Molly Baxter
It is thought that cricket has been played in Fovant since 1926. The earliest recorded minutes of the Fovant Cricket Club are dated 1 October 1954 when it was agreed to call the club, the Fovant Tennis and Cricket Club.
Village Band – Diane Poynting
The Fovant Band was in great demand as far back as 1830. It was revived and remained keen and competitive for many years. In the 1960s it was absorbed into the Shaftesbury Silver Band which continues until the present day.
Fovant School and Fovant Rainbow Centre – Anne Cooke
When the rain stopped and the flood water subsided a rainbow signified the beginning of a new world. When Fovant School closed after 150 years in Juyly 1997 the Fovant Rainbow Centre opened in the same buildings 6 weeks later. The Rainbow Centre incorporates a nursery school, after school and holiday club, a dancing school and information technology training.
Baptism – Jose Green
The font is the centre piece for the ceremony of admission into the Christian family. This font dates from the Victorian age.
Blacksmith. – Joyce Toomer
The Blacksmith’s forge was located at the junction of the High Street and Shaftesbury Road, formerly known as The Cross.
Bee Keeping. – Pam Fenton
Bee keeping was a popular pastime in Fovant until fairly recently. For many people it was a way of adding to their produce.
Pedestal – Judy Allum
The present. A colourful arrangement of early autumn flowers.
Bakery – Cynthia Shepherd
The original Fovant Bakery was in the High Street where The Cottage is now. It later moved to Fovant Stores.
Death and Resurrection – Liz Long
For Christians, death is merely the passage to eternal life. The bier used for many years in this church was sold to Salisbury Museum and returned in 1993. Until 1988 Alfred Lever owned the Village Joinery and Undertaking Workshop in the High Street.
St. George – June O’Sullivan
The Parish Church is dedicated to St George, an early Christian martyr who, during the middle ages, became an ideal of martial valour and selflessness.
Australian Memorial – Janet Longden
Australian troops occupied Hudcott Farmhouse and camps 5, 6 & 7 in 1917. They also occupied camps 1, 2, 3 & 4 which were east of Green Drove between the A30 and Fovant Wood. Sadly, a number of them died and are buried here in Fovant churchyard. Their graves are maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
British Memorial – Judy Snowdon
During the First World War large numbers of troops were based in the area immediately around Fovant. Fovant was also a site for a field hospital where troops were brought by ambulance trains from Sout Coast ports. Many did not survive, some dying from their wounds and some from the post-was influenza epidemic. They are buried in Fovant and surrounding churchyards. A stone cross memorial commemorating all those who died was erected near the entrance to the church in 1924.
Farming – Ann Harris.
Farming of all types has played an important part in the life of Fovant through the ages.
Watercress Beds, Trout Farm & Fishing Club – Jane Pybus
The Watercress Beds were created in 1892 from the existing water meadows. In the 1970s they were sold and the site is now the Millbrook Trout Farm. In the mid 1970s the lakes of the still flourishing Brim Close Fishing Club were excavated at Manor Farm. They connect with Fovant brook in the north of the village down to the River Nadder.

Click here to listen Colin's commentary

C.W.C.H.
G & B.N.
M.C.L.H.
September 2008

Content last updated
24 October 2008

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