Sherborne

The town was named scir burne by the Saxon inhabitants, after a brook that runs through the centre of the town, a name meaning "clear stream",[4] and is referred to as such in the Domesday Book.

In 705 the diocese of Wessex was split between Sherborne and Winchester, and King Ine founded an abbey for St Aldhelm, the first Bishop of Sherborne, which covered Wiltshire, Dorset, Somerset and probably part of Devon. King Alfred the Great's elder brothers King Æthelbald and King Æthelberht are buried in the abbey. The large Sherborne diocese lasted until about 909 when it was further sub-divided into three sees, with Sherborne covering Dorset. In 933, King Æthelstan granted land at Sherborne to the nuns of Shaftesbury Abbey under the condition that they would recite the Psalter once a year on All Saints' day and say prayers for the king.[5] The bishop's seat was moved to Old Sarum in 1075 and the church at Sherborne became a Benedictine monastery. In the 15th century the church was burnt down during tensions between the town and the monastery, and rebuilt between 1425 and 1504 incorporating some of the Norman structure remains. In 1539 the monastery was bought by Sir John Horsey and became a conventional church. Sherborne was the centre of a hundred of the same name for many centuries.

See the article Sherborne Abbey for more on the history of the abbey.

The Conduit

In the 12th century Roger de Caen, Bishop of Salisbury and Chancellor of England, built a fortified palace in Sherborne. The palace was destroyed in 1645 by General Fairfax, and its ruins are owned by English Heritage.

In 1594 Sir Walter Raleigh built an Elizabethan mansion in the grounds of the old palace, today known as Sherborne Castle.

Sherborne became home to Yorkshireman, Captain Christopher Levett who came to the West Country as His Majesty's Woodward of Somersetshire, and who remained in Sherborne when he turned to a career as a naval captain and early explorer of New England.[6]

In the UK national parliament, Sherborne is within the West Dorset parliamentary constituency, which is currently represented by Chris Loder of the Conservative Party. In local government, Sherborne is administered by Dorset Council at the highest tier, and Sherborne Town Council at the lowest tier.

In national parliament and local council elections, Dorset is divided into several electoral wards, with Sherborne forming two of these: Sherborne West and Sherborne East.[7][8][9] In county council elections, Dorset is divided into 42 electoral divisions, with Sherborne's two wards together forming Sherborne Electoral Division.[10]

There has been a school in Sherborne since the time of King Alfred, who was educated there. The school was re-founded in 1550 as King Edward's grammar school, using some of the old abbey buildings, though it is now known simply as Sherborne School. The school is one of the independent schools in Britain, with alumni such as Alan Turing, Jeremy Irons, Chris Martin, John le Carré, Hugh Bonneville and John Cowper Powys.

Sherborne School for Girls was founded in 1895. Its notable alumnae include the opera singer Emma Kirkby and the scientist Rosa Beddington.

Until 1992 there were also two grammar schools, Foster's School for Boys and Lord Digby's School for Girls. Both schools merged with another local school to form The Gryphon School.

• The Gryphon School
• Sherborne Abbey Primary School
• Sherborne Primary School
• Sherborne School
• Sherborne School for Girls
• Sherborne International
• Sherborne Preparatory School
• Sherborne Learning centre

Sherborne House

Notable historic buildings in the town include:

The almshouses of Saints John the Baptist and John the Evangelist: founded in 1437 and building completed in 1448. It was expanded in 1866 in indistinguishable medieval style architecture;

The conduit: originally built in the Abbey Cloister c.1520 as the Monks' wash place, but moved to the Market Place in 1560;

Hospice of St Julian (formerly the St Thomas à Becket Chapel): founded in 1177;

Lord Digby school, now known as Sherborne House (designed by Benjamin Bastard). Sherborne House, famed for its mural by Sir James Thornhill.[11] was a subject for the BBC's "Restoration" programme in 2004, and was sold in 2008 by Dorset County Council to a developer, Redcliffe Homes, for £3 million.[12] Its renovation included rebuilding an unstable rear wall.[13]

St Emerenciana's Chapel (now known as Nethercoombe Farm); probably from the 13/14th Century. The only building in the country to have been dedicated to this saint.

There are 378 listed buildings within the town[14] and 23 in Castleton (considered to be an inclusion of Sherborne),[15] totalling 401, including 14 Grade I listed buildings and 21 Grade II* listed buildings.

• Mike Davis, both a player and coach with England.
• The social reformer and moralist Rev Sir James Marchant died here in 1956.
• Olympic sailor Andrew Simpson (1976-2013) lived here.[16]
• Olympic field hockey player Michael Walford lived and worked here for many years before his death in 2002.

The Almshouses

Sherborne has an active green community, with various environmental and sustainability organisations in the area. The Quarr Local Nature Reserve at the northern end of the town makes use of an old quarry and landfill site, Sherborne Area Partnership oversees a successful environment forum and, in 2009, Sherborne became an official Transition Town,[17] running a number of projects and events as a community response to climate change and peak oil.

The town has for centuries hosted an annual street fair, Pack Monday Fair, starting on the Monday following 10 October (Old Michaelmas Day). Originally an agricultural fair, it is now devoted to stalls, sideshows and a funfair.[18]

Sherborne has a non-League football club Sherborne Town FC a cricket club (Sherborne CC) and a rugby club, Sherborne RFC.

Sherborne is a founding member of the Douzelage, a town twinning association of 24 towns across the European Union. This active town twinning began in 1991 and there are regular events, such as a produce market from each of the other countries and festivals.[19][20] Discussions regarding membership are also in hand with three further towns (Agros in Cyprus, Škofja Loka in Slovenia, and Tryavna in Bulgaria).

Sherbourne Street, Toronto and Sherbourne (TTC) subway station was named after the town, as it was the birthplace of Upper Canada official and Toronto resident Thomas Ridout.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sherborne.

• Sherborne at Curlie
• Town web site