AN ART exhibition is on the move from underneath Tolpuddle Martyrs’ Tree to Shire Hall in Dorchester.

It will be on display in the very cells in which the Martyrs were held before their trial in 1834.

Contemporary artists Bob and Roberta Smith created the new artwork for the National Trust, working with schools and the community. Bob led art classes to create paintings of the tree and portraits which formed a forest of placards on display during the annual Tolpuddle Martyrs’ Festival.

The painting classes were part of a series of events this summer to celebrate the Tolpuddle tree, a sycamore now cared for by the National Trust, which is famous for sheltering under its branches the six agricultural labourers who became known as the Tolpuddle Martyrs.

The tree was given to the Trust to look after in 1934. Now 320 years old, it is for the events of 1833-34 that it is known today, when six labourers met to discuss their poor wages and living conditions. The men were arrested in 1834 and transported to Australia. Their case provoked a huge public outcry and the six were eventually pardoned and returned home.

Bob held two art schools for students from The Thomas Hardye school in Dorchester and Wey Valley School in Weymouth. The students painted portraits on placards, some depicting people who are imprisoned today for their art.

Members of the public also joined other art classes to learn to paint the sycamore tree.

All of the work is to be exhibited alongside Bob’s own artwork in a special exhibition, Paint Freedom, at Shire Hall in Dorchester, Dorset, this summer from July 26 to September 6.

Sophie Bull, co-ordinating the project for the National Trust, said: “The paint schools for students and members of the public were fully booked and those taking part said how fantastic they were. Bob is a great teacher who inspired students and adults alike in creating their own interpretation of the tree.”

The theme was chosen because 2019 marks the 200th anniversary of the Peterloo Massacre, when a 60,000-strong crowd walked to the meeting point at St Peter’s Field in Central Manchester to call for parliamentary representation.

Shortly after the meeting began, local government forces charged into the crowd on horseback and with swords drawn, injuring around 700 and killing 18 men, women and children.

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