BROCKWEIR EXHIBITION: Brockweir Inn, recently bought by the community has been a pub since the 1700s
The anchor and the bell from the La Belle Marie, the last ship to sail from Brockweir were reunited after over 100 years apart recently.
The Brockweir history exhibition which was run by Brockweir History Group and Brockweir Inn CBS ran for two days showcased the La Belle Marie exhibits along with historic photos of Brockweir, finds from the village buildings and land in Brockweir, souvenirs and mementos for people to view.
The exhibition marked the start of the ‘Reimagining Brockweir Art Project’ that will be running this summer to explore the history of the village and pub.
Local artist and photographer will be channelling participants’ interaction with the history of the village running workshops throughout August.
Lise Brekmore, the project lead said:
“This is such an important project for the newly bought community pub. The building has been a pub since the 1700s and was integral with the other 16 pubs in the village to the ship-building and port business in Brockweir.
“The history of the village is very important and we are excited to be re-telling it through this project.”
“The Historic England Everyday Heritage Grant that has made this project possible is for projects that celebrate working class histories and the historic places.
“All of the projects are co-created with local communities, to shine a light on diverse stories of working class heritage that are often overlooked or forgotten.
Led by the community, this project explores these colourful working class histories of Brockweir through digital and archive resources from the Brockweir History Group.
A series of workshops will identify the stories that are important to them and how we can tell them.
The free workshops throughout August 2025 are for all ages. The first workshop to be held on August 2, will be a photography workshop with professional photographer David Broadbent, where participants will be guided in taking photos of Brockweir’s historic spirit and recreating historic photos.
These photos will be combined to co-create a series of artworks in the workshops on Saturday’s August 16 and 30 of which will be run by international artist Matthew Stone where he will inspire participants to explore and engage with the local history and introduce personal narratives to create a collective visual archive of Brockweir’s history and present.
Once the project has ended, the archive created by the project will be held by the Brockweir Inn CBS on behalf of the community.
In December 2024, the Brockweir Inn Community Benefit Society (BICBS) successfully purchased the remarkable 16th century village tavern on the banks of the River Wye.
More information on the Historic England Everyday Grants can be found here.
Location: Brockweir, Gloucestershire
