Weymouth Town Council offering grants to celebrate historic anniversary
Weymouth Town Council is delighted with the quality and diversity of the Weymouth 450th anniversary celebratory community projects that the council has been able to support with its Weymouth 450 Grant Scheme.
The Council is now announcing 19th July as the second deadline for the grant scheme and is inviting local organisations and schools to apply for funding for more celebratory projects. Decision on the award of grants will hopefully be made by the end of July. Full details are available on our website.
This year marks 450 years from when Weymouth and Melcombe Regis were combined by an Act of Parliament. To celebrate this, Weymouth Town Council have set aside a grant funding budget (total of £15,000) and invited local community groups to apply for grants of up to £1,000 to support their anniversary projects or events.
Local projects and events that have successfully received funding from the Weymouth 450 Grant Scheme include:
- Melwey Games – the Nothe Fort will be hosting the Melwey Games on Saturday 3rd July, activities will be held in the Fort and there will be a Melwey Gig Boat Race by amateurs around Newton’s Cove
- All Saints Festival – the Parish of Wyke Regis will be hosting the All Saints Festival on Saturday 25th and Sunday 26th September
- Holy Trinity Parochial Church organised a talk on Elizabethan Music followed by an evening concert of English Renaissance music
- Weymouth Museum Trust organised an open day for residents to bring their memories, photographs, and artefacts of Weymouth and Melcombe Regis
We want to celebrate this landmark anniversary with exciting events and activities that involve the whole community – that’s why we’re offering grants for local community groups and not-for-profit organisations. Whether it’s a picnic in a park, an art-based activity or event celebrating our history and culture, we’d love to hear your ideas.
For more information and to download an application form, please visit the following link: www.weymouthtowncouncil.gov.uk/weymouth-450/
To apply for a grant, download the application form and email a completed form to office@weymouthtowncouncil.gov.uk by Monday 19th July.
If you have any questions or would like some help with completing the application, please contact us here: www.weymouthtowncouncil.gov.uk/contact-us/
Weymouth 450 – the history
Weymouth started life as 2 separate, independent towns, one on each side of the River Wey. This year marks 450 years from when Weymouth and Melcombe Regis were combined by an Act of Parliament.
While it’s thought Weymouth was established as early as the 10th century and its first charter was granted in 1252, it was confined to the south and west of Weymouth Harbour. It’s thought Weymouth was the earlier of the 2 settlements, formed from a small huddle of fishermen’s huts and dwellings.
The 2 settlements shared the river that lay between them, which provided both towns with a steady income from shipping and fishing. From as early as the 13 Century, there were disagreements over the ownership of the harbour and profits from the stretch of water between the towns.
The disagreements and assertions over the rights continued over centuries and reached a pivotal point under the reign of Elizabeth I. Constant petitions to the Queen and her Privy Council resulted in her officials attempting to intervene to broker a peaceful agreement. Their attempts failed.
The Queen and her ministers then used Parliament to bring about a solution to the ongoing problem. In April 1571 an Act of Parliament was passed, forcing the towns into a union, creating the new Borough of Weymouth and Melcombe Regis.
The construction of the first bridge over the harbour in the early 1590s was the first physical recognition of the union and strengthened the identity of the 2 settlements as one town.