Hardye School oak panel withdrawn from sale after campaign

It will now be returned to the school site.

It follows a campaign which questioned why the panel had been offered for sale – and who legally owns the ancient object, thought to have come from a Spanish galleon washed up on the Dorset coast.

For decades it was on display in the current school and at previous sites around the town.

In a statement the President of the Old Hardyeans, Damien Lewis said: “Cheffins Auctions and their client Heritage Antiques GB, together with The Hardyeans’ Club and The Thomas Hardye School have held amicable and constructive discussions with the result that the Elizabethan Oak Screen will be returned to the school over the coming days.

"All parties are delighted that this piece of local history will again be on display for students and the public to see for generations to come.”

The oak panel was taken down from the school hall in 2021 when the building was refurbished and not seen again until a photograph and description of it emerged in the September sale catalogue for Cheffins of Cambridge.

Since that was made public, in local media last week, the auction house website now shows the panel, expected to have fetched up to £5,000, as being withdrawn from sale. No explaination is given.

Neither Cheffins or the Thomas Hardye School have answered questions, put to them last week, about how the panel came to be in the sale, or who made the decision.

A door from the panel, which measures 4.5 by 6 metres, had been removed prior to being put in the auction and has been retained by the school.

Several former pupils, former school governors and the Old Hardyean Association had campaigned to keep the panel in Dorchester.

The screen was first noted as being placed in the re-built school where Napper’s Mite now stands in South Street in the early 1600s following the 1613 Great Fire of Dorchester.

After further moves to other school sites around the town the screen was displayed in the present school theatre in Queen’s Avenue and had also been in the sixth form common room.

Old Hardyean’s President Damien Lewis had raised the issue with the school and several local councillors had been asked to get involved and offer what help they could to ensure the panel stays in the town. An auctioneer from the town, Gary Batt, had also offered campaigners his advice and support.

The story also led to one local businessman, Darren Scott from Deane Computer Solutions, offering to fund or part-fund the purchase, if needed, to keep the panel in the town.

Mr Scott, a former pupil at the school, said he was shocked to read of it being offered for sale.

Another former pupil, local historian, guide, and chair and academic director of the Thomas Hardy Society, Mark Chutter, says the panel must stay in the town, ideally in the County Museum.

Mr Chutter says that when the oak panel, which was then referred to as  ‘Jacobean Screen ‘  was at the Barnes Way site it was in the library with a secret door through the screen leading to an office.

“We need to ensure it is kept within our community. It is part of our heritage and identity,  and thousands of former pupils of the school will know it well. It would be a tragedy if it was lost to the town,” he said.