Dorchester's school's Spanish galleon artefact withdrawn from sale

The auction house website now shows the panel as withdrawn from sale

An auction house has withdrawn a school's Elizabethan-era artefact from sale after a campaign by former pupils.

The 1558 oak panel is thought to have come from a Spanish galleon that washed up on the Dorset coast.

It had been on display at the Thomas Hardye School in Dorchester until 2021.

The panel was taken down from the school hall when the building was refurbished. A photograph and description of it recently emerged in Cheffins of Cambridge's sale catalogue.

It will now be returned to the school site.

Damien Lewis, president of the Old Hardyeans, said the former pupils, the school, the auction house and its client Heritage Antiques GB, had held "amicable and constructive discussions" resulting in the decision to return to the oak screen to the school.

He said in a statement: "All parties are delighted that this piece of local history will again be on display for students and the public to see for generations to come."

The auction house website now shows the panel, expected to have fetched up to £5,000, as withdrawn from sale. No explanation is given.

The screen - measuring 4.5m by 6m (15ft by 20ft) - was first noted as being placed in the school in the early 1600s, following the 1613 Great Fire of Dorchester.

After further moves to other school sites around the town, the screen was displayed in the present school theatre in Queen's Avenue and had also been in the sixth form common room.

After news of the impending sale, former pupil and local businessman Darren Scott offered to fund the purchase if it would keep the panel in the town.

Another former pupil, local historian, Mark Chutter, said the panel should ideally be in the County Museum.

"It is part of our heritage and identity and thousands of former pupils of the school will know it well. It would be a tragedy if it was lost to the town," he added.