With an impressive medieval abbey, Capability Brown landscape around a Tudor castle, and a dazzling range of independent shops, Sherborne is a Dorset town to savour at leisure
With its distinctive honey-coloured buildings, wealth of history and vibrant high street of independent businesses, Sherborne is a town to be explored on foot. Back in Saxon times this was a capital of Wessex. Part of this was down to its magnificent cathedral (which was a downgraded to a Benedictine abbey in 1075, then a parish church in 1539, though many still consider it the ‘cathedral of Dorset’). The Abbey Church of St. Mary the Virgin has been at the heart of life in this bustling market town for the last 1300 years, and its late medieval fan-vaulted roof is still a thing of wonder (sherborneabbey.com). It’s also where you can hear the heaviest peal of eight bells in the world. Every year (April 27 – May 4 in 2023) the Abbey hosts the award-winning Sherborne Abbey Festival which offers performances by world class musicians, and nearly 70% of the concerts are free (sherborneabbeyfestival.org). For those wanting to delve into the town’s illustrious history, which includes gloving and silk industries, pop into Sherborne Museum on Church Lane.
The town’s unspoilt architecture and handsome historic buildings have film crews regularly beating a path to here; scenes for Far From the Madding Crowd (2015) were shot at Abbey Close. And Sherborne School was used as a film location for the television series Wolf Hall (2015), as well as The Imitation Game (2014) about its former code-breaking pupil Alan Turing. Other films shot here include Goodbye, Mr Chips (1969) and The Browning Version (1951/1994).
Strolling around Sherborne’s shops: From butcher and baker to contemporary art, antiques and lifestyle boutiques, Cheap Street is where you will find an abundance independent shops. The Dodge family have had a presence on Sherborne’s high street since 1846, their latest incarnation The Circus, is a lifestyle boutique with a fabulous range of jewellery you won’t find anywhere else (thecircusboutique.com). D’Uberville, in St John’s Building on The Parade, is like walking into an Instagram feed with its beautifully curated collection of desirable pieces for the home including French antiques (durbervilleliving.com)
The Jerram Gallery, on Half Moon Street, represents both emerging British artists and artists of international repute, so it's always worth popping in to see who is exhibiting. In October the renowned artist Richard Pikesley is exhibiting paintings of the Dorset coast and local landscapes (October 8 –26 /jerramgallery.com).
A Taste of Sherborne: Here’s a taste of some of the places to eat and stay around Sherborne. A fine Georgian town house is the setting for the award-winning Eastbury Hotel on Long Street with its walled garden containing a bijou spa (theeastburyhotel.co.uk). Their Seasons Restaurant showcases local ingredients, it’s a great location to base yourself. The Green, at the top of Cheap Street, is where Sasha Matkevich creates classic dishes with a modern twist using local, seasonal and unusual ingredients, including foraged ones (greenrestaurant.co.uk). Oliver’s Coffee House, also on Cheap Street, is famous for its homemade cakes - lemon and ginger crunch, Guinness pudding, Nutella brownie - no wonder locals love this dog-friendly venue (oliverscoffeehouse.co.uk). Nearby, The Three Wishes offers local produce sourced within 20 miles of their kitchen. It’s the home of The Sherborne Stodger, a mouth-watering combination of Mr Dewey’s spiced fruited tea cake toasted with lashing of butter and homemade jam (thethreewishes.co.uk).
Exploring Sherborne School: Founded as a cathedral school in 705 AD, Alfred the Great, King of the Anglo-Saxons, is said to have been an early pupil of Sherborne School. After the Dissolution, King Edward VI re-founded it by Royal Charter in 1550. With over 450 years of educating boys, it has an impressive array of famous pupils including more recently Chris Martin of Coldplay, and Ian Messiter creator of the radio panel game Just a Minute, which was inspired by history master Percival Parry Jones, who, upon seeing the young Messiter daydreaming in a class, instructed him to repeat everything he had said in the previous minute without hesitation or repetition! From October 24-28, Sherborne School briefly opens its doors to allow the public to explore some of its historic buildings with the School Archivist, including the 18th century Shell House. Events are free of charge but places are limited so book in advance. sherborne.org/news-and-events/open-sherborne-2022
Autumn Colours at the Castle: Home to the Wingfield Digby family since 1617, ‘new’ Sherborne Castle was built in the grounds of old Sherborne Castle, a crumbling 12th century hunting lodge, by Sir Walter Raleigh in 1594 who was gifted the original castle and its lands by Queen Elizabeth I. Surrounding it is the glorious Grade 1 listed 42-acre ‘English Landscape Garden’ created in the 1750s by Capability Brown, this was one of his first commissions and survives largely unaltered. It’s especially stunning at this time of year when the autumn colours are reflected in the lake dug by Capability Brown – during Autumn Colours Special Weekend (October 22-23) there is reduced price entry to the gardens. It’s well worth setting aside a couple of hours to explore the house (when open) and gardens, then stroll into town. Sherborne Castle Country Fair, famous for its Rare Breeds Show, is held here on the late May Bank Holiday. For more information on opening times go to sherbornecastle.com
A Medieval Fair: The Pack Monday Fair is a former medieval street fair, possibly derived from the men who worked on the Abbey packing up their tools following its construction. These days they add the weekend before, October 13-17. Throughout Cheap Street, Half Moon Street and Digby Road are stalls, craft markets and street food and Terrace Playing Field has a funfair. packmondayfair.com
A Well Read Town: Throughout the year Sherborne Literary Society hosts a number of talks by well-known writers. On October 25 Max Hastings gives a talk on his brilliant new book Abyss: The Cuban Missle Crisis 1962 which tells the story from the viewpoints of national leaders, Russian officers, Cuban peasants, American pilots and British disarmers. On November 30 Amy Jeffs talks about her new book Wilds: Tales from Early Medieval Britain. sherborneliterarysociety.com
Sherborne Arts: Continuing the legacy of Sherborne ArtsLink, which ran from 1982 until 2019, Sherborne Arts provides classes, workshops, and events for all to express their artistic side. This includes hosting day-time classes in drawing, life drawing, oil painting, pastels and portraiture at the Digby Hall, starting in late September. For more information visit sherbornearts.org
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