A Brief History of Dore

Dore is suburb of Sheffield, yet it is founded on firm Anglo-Saxon foundations and can trace its recorded history further back than the city itself.

The written history of Dore can be traced back to the year 829 and an entry (incorrectly recorded as 827) in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle: "And Ecgbert led an army to Dore against the Northumbrians and they offered him obedience and concord and thereupon they separated" and thus King Ecgbert "Our Lord of the whole English-speaking race, from the Channel to the Firth of Forth."

The importance of Dore was its position on the boundary of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of Mercia, recently conquered by King Ecgbert of Wessex, and Northumbria, the second most powerful kingdom. At the time, Northumbria was under pressure from Viking raids and unable to fight on two fronts, leading to the acceptance of Ecgbert as an overlord and effectively the first king of all England.

The event is commemorated on the village green by a gritstone monolith, with a black granite plaque in the shape of a Saxon shield, appropriately emblazoned by a Wyvern, the war emblem of Wessex which is also the Choir’s emblem.

Although the Choir celebrated its 60th anniversary last year, its origins date back to a few years before 1964. In the late 1950s, a small group of ex-servicemen would meet at a bar for a beer and a sing. The numbers of this glee club started to grow, and occasional outings to sing for servicemen’s clubs and other fellowships followed.

By 1964, the number of singers had grown to between 16 and 20, and the meeting place was switched to The Devonshire Arms in Dore, where the Dore Male Voice Choir was formed.

By the early seventies, Choir was enjoying a high reputation and entered many festivals, including the prestigious Llangollen International Eisteddfod on six occasions, Huddersfield, Morecambe, Blackpool, Eskdale, and Worksop Music Festival.

The Choir currently has about 70 members whose music repertoire covers the entire music spectrum, from opera, musicals, sacred, spirituals, and traditional folk songs. repertoire has included singing in Latin, Welsh, German, Russian, Xhosa, and Maori, always from memory without a manuscript.

The Choir has also given performances at York Minster, The London Guildhall, The Royal Albert Hall, on radio BBC TV, many other venues.

Bi-annual overseas concert tours have taken place in many European countries. In 2017, they toured the Umbria region of Italy, performing in the evening mass at St Peter in the Vatican. They have also sung at the Last Post ceremony at the Menin Gate, Ypres. In September 2019, a concert tour to Sicily took place, based in Taormina, with the highlight of the tour being a performance in The Duomo of Syracuse.

The 2021 overseas concert tour had to be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic but was rescheduled to 2022. The tour, based in Padua, an ancient university city Verona Venice, with concerts in each of these cities, was a great success. The big attraction for the choir was singing in the Mass in St. Mark’s in Venice.

They are proud to have contributed thousands of pounds to charity over the years, from the money raised from concerts, donations, and CD sales. DMVC is a Registered Charity, No 514195