History

 
The Wareham Town Band has been in existence since at least 1855 when mention of the band is made in the Dorset Chronicle, in relation to the annual Church School outing to Stoborough, when the band led the procession of carts carrying children back to Wareham. Another early account of the band relates to one night in the early 1900’s when the relief of Mafeking was being celebrated in the town.
Up to about the middle of the nineteenth century, many village bands were in existence, made up of a large variety of wind instruments. These bands were originally formed to provide music for church services before organs were commonplace and also provided music for many village events.

An historic photo of the Wareham Town Band

Above: An historic photo of the Wareham Town Band
The Wareham Town Band has always contained a mixture of brass and reed instruments and continues to do so to this day. This could possibly be an indication that the band’s roots lie in some earlier village band, but this is now a matter of conjecture. Certainly, the Wareham Town Band predates many of the other bands in the Purbeck area, which were formed around the 1860’s as brass bands.

 

From "A Short History of Wareham Town Band", by E. Byrom