Sherborne
 Abbeys |
Sherborne lies in the north of the county on the Somerset border, and is considered the most beautiful of all Dorset's towns. Set amongst the gently rolling hills and wooded valleys of the Blackmoor Vale, this ancient town is a historical and architectural pearl.
First referred to in documents by the Celtic name Lamprobi, mention is made of a settlement on the site built by Celtic monks. Later, the conquering Saxons referred to the town as Seir Burna, ‘place of the clear stream', from which the name Sherborne is derived. When King Ine of Wessex asked Abbot Aldhelm of Malmesbury to choose a site for a new cathedral in 706AD, the abbot settled on Sherborne.
Of this early cathedral nothing remains, although Saxon work of about three centuries later can still be recognised. Another cathedral was built during this period, which led to it being established as the Mother Cathedral for the whole of south-west England. Sherborne maintained cathedral status until 1075 when the Normans transferred the see to Old Sarum. However, the town continued as an important religious centre, for a Benedictine monastery had been founded alongside the existing parish church of Allhallows in 998. After the Dissolution of the Monasteries (1536/9), Sherborne's abbey was purchased by the townsfolk for £66-13s-4d, plus £250 for the roof lead. Thereafter, the abbey became the new parish church of St Mary the Virgin, the finest of all the many medieval buildings in the town - Allhallows was demolished as a result. No additions or alterations were made to this wonderful abbey until 1921, when the east bay of the Lady Chapel was added; what Sherborne proudly offers us is a perfect medieval church.
The frontage of the abbey incorporates architecture from all the major building phases, especially Saxon and Norman, and employs the rich golden stone of Ham Hill. Entrance is not through any of the west-front doorways, but via the magnificent Norman porchway in the south front. Inside the abbey there is much to admire - the Saxon doorway, the Early English doorway to the Lady Chapel, the memorials and from a much later time the marvellous engraved glass reredos in the Lady Chapel, the work of Lawrence Whistler in 1968. Of all the abbey's treasures most marvellous is the graceful roof vaulting, among the finest anywhere in the world. The 13th century vaulted roof of the Lady Chapel is excellent, but the beautiful symmetry of form and the studied intricacy of the later 15th century fan vaulting is quite breathtaking. The choir vault dating from around 1450 is the earliest major fan vault in existence; the nave vault was built about 60 years later while the fan vault, in the north transept, is perhaps the most intricate of all. The great height of the vaults adds wonderfully to their majestic appearance and the roof bosses form an intriguing collection of medieval sculpture - depicting foliage, an owl being mobbed by crows, dogs with a bone, dragons, lions and a Green Man referring back to distant Celtic tree worship.
Many of the oldest medieval buildings have survived the ravishes of time astonishingly well. The exquisite Almshouses of St John the Baptist and St John the Evangelist built in 1442 stands near the abbey. In Half Moon Street, linked to Abbey Close, stands a row of 16th century shops with one continuous room running through every first floor, once used as the Church House. The old market place is in Cheap Street, from the Saxon ceping for market, and here we find The Conduit, the monk's wash room built in the early 16th century. Nearby is the 15th century Abbey Gate House, containing the town museum and Abbeylands, a timber-framed house with an overhanging upper storey. Sherborne School, renowned in its own right, lies just behind the abbey's south porch and incorporates some of the old monastic buildings, notably the 14th century cloisters. By then the school was already ‘old' and may have been founded in the 8th century along with the first cathedral - legend has it that Alfred the Great was educated here, and certainly a school existed in the 11th century. The present one was founded by a Royal charter of Edward VI in 1550.
Sherborne, somewhat self-indulgently, offers us two castles both standing to the east of town. Sherborne Old Castle is now a picturesque ruin dating from the early 12th century, built at the behest of the Norman bishop Roger of Salisbury. The Old Castle was finally rendered useless by Parliamentarians in 1645, after it had been held for 16 days by Royalist sympathisers - the site is now owned by English Heritage. The New Castle or Sherborne Lodge as it was originally called, was acquired by Sir Walter Raleigh in 1594, Elizabeth I ‘persuading' the Church to part with it in order to present it to her favourite. Raleigh had at first attempted to restore the Old Castle, but was forced to abandon this notion; his ghost is said to wander his beloved gardens at Sherborne Lodge annually on 28th September. Since the 16th century the New Castle has twice been extended, most notably in the 18th century when the surrounding 20-acre parkland was also landscaped by the fashionable Capability Brown. It is beautifully furnished within and has an excellent collection of paintings; privately owned by the Digby family it is open to visitors during the season.
Sherborne provides an ideal base for exploring other parts of west Dorset; within easy driving distance are the remains of ancient trackways and defensive earthworks cut from the shelves of chalk by Dorset's early inhabitants. Nearby is the Cerne Abbas Giant, 180ft from head to toe he was cut out of the turf about 1500 years ago; a naked figure thought to be a pagan fertility symbol, he still gazes down from his hill upon Cerne Abbas village below.