Tolpuddle Martyrs' Festival

About

Tolpuddle has been a place of great importance to the Labour Movement from the moment news broke of the harsh sentences imposed on the six farm workers from Dorset which led to the early inception of trade unions to support and protect worker’s rights.

The Tolpuddle Martyrs Festival is now a celebration of those brave six farm labourers who endured harsh punishments at the hands of the establishment. Today the festival offers live music, local food, trade stalls, comedy and political debate.

Each year the event sees thousands visit the festival with the grand procession through the village being the highlight. The procession sees unions and trade groups from across the country march in solidarity while displaying their banners proudly.

A short drive from the village of Tolpuddle is Dorchester, home of the Shire Hall where the Tolpuddle Martyrs were tried. The Shire Hall is now open as a museum and visitor centre giving visitors the chance to see the restored courtroom and the terrifying cells below. Learn more of the prisoner’s stories and the brutal punishments handed down by the judges of the day.  

Further details of the Topuddle Festival, the Tolpuddle Martyrs and the birth of the trade union movement can be found on the tolpuddlemartyrs.org.uk website.