A cloth embroidered with the signatures of 176 villagers has been unveiled in Crowcombe.
Thirty villagers attended a ceremony at Church House last month, where the 1951 Electricity Fund Signature Cloth was revealed, 75 years after its creation.
The cloth, a unique fundraising initiative, once played a pivotal role in electrifying the 16th-century building, one of Somerset’s only two surviving church houses.
May Jewell, a resident, meticulously embroidered the signatures on the cloth, as confirmed by Alison Lister from Textile Conservation in Bristol, possibly with the help of one or two others.
At the unveiling, the cloth was unveiled by Brenda Smith and Janet March, granddaughters of Ms Jewell.
They explained it had always been their mother Edna’s wish for the cloth to be returned to Church House.
Now, the cloth resides in the building it once supported, fulfilling her long-held desire and anchoring an important piece of social history.
The restoration of the Signature Cloth preserves both cherished village memories and historical signatures.
This conservation effort was facilitated by a generous bequest from Valori Menneer and was professionally framed by Laura Sturgess from Quantock Frameworks in Stogumber.
