11/09/2025
The commemorative stone marking the former location of the Thomas Hardye School in Dorchester, on a site that is now the Thomas Hardye Gardens estate, has been refurbished as a kind gesture by the skilled stone masons at Grassby Memorials. The stone was erected on Moynton Road almost 30 years ago when the new housing was built but in recent years the wording had become faded.
The state of the commemorative stone was highlighted by Cllr Stella Jones at a meeting of the Dorchester Joint Heritage Committee and, when approached for help, the Grassby family business agreed to help restore the stone as many of the Grassby family and company staff had attended the school on the Moynton Road site.
Cllr Gareth Jones, chair of the Dorchester Joint Heritage Committee, said “I am so pleased to see the commemorative stone so beautifully restored by the skilled masons of Grassby Memorials through a kind gesture of the Grassby family – a family well-known by so many in the Dorchester community. This is once again a fitting tribute to a well-loved local school that has played such an important part in the history of the town”.
In the photo, from left to right are: Cllr Gareth Jones (Chair of Dorchester Joint Heritage Committee), Cllr Stella Jones (Dorchester Town Council), Martin Cheeseman (Grassby Memorials Branch Manager), William Grassby (Stonemason at Grassby Memorials), and Nick Grassby (Director of Grassby Funeral Services).