Valerie Singleton meets the charismatic owners of Sherborne Antiques Market, whose creative window displays are drawing admirers from near and far.
The Edinburgh Woollen Mill, near the bottom of Cheap Street in Sherborne was a large shop, it’s two huge windows taking up a lot more frontage than nearby businesses. It had been a fixture of this street since I had moved to the area some 20 years ago. So, when it closed its doors in January 2021, my heart sank as it was going to leave a very visible empty hole in the centre of town. Who could possibly fill such a large void?
Roll back to May 5, 2019. A meeting was about to take place in Brighton that, three years later, would change the face of this Sherborne street. It would also bring a resurgence of shoppers into town keen to explore a lively and very popular antiques market.
Craig Wharton, who lived in Brighton, had a free day on May 5, the only plans he had was meeting friends at 7pm. Spur of the moment, he decided to try a new dating app. Phillip Traves, visiting Brighton for the weekend from his home in Portland, Dorset, responded. The two met for lunch and hit it off immediately. So well, that Phillip joined Craig’s friends that evening who presumed the two had known each other for years.
It was their shared interest in antiques that brought the couple together. Both had been fascinated by antiques since they were youngsters. Phillip, who had grown up in Parkstone, dug up his first old bottle when he was nine. He became a young member of the Bournemouth Museum Club, part of the Russell-Cotes Museum, and was buying and selling at antiques fairs while still at school. Leaving full-time education at 16, he helped at a local auctioneer and found he enjoyed repairing things.
‘I decided to take a year’s course learning how to restore furniture properly,’ says Phillip, who was only 19 at the time. ‘Then I took out a massive loan to open my own antique shop in Bournemouth, mainly concentrating on restoring furniture.’
In the mid 1990s Phillip gave up his Bournemouth shop. By the dawn of the new century, he had moved to Portland and joined Dukes the Auctioneers in Dorchester, working as a general valuer and auctioneer.
Craig’s career path, meanwhile, had taken a different course. He was a flight attendant for 33 years, initially for UK-based Britannia Airways and then Australia’s Qantas Airways. Craig grew up near Cardiff and, like Phillip, got involved in buying and selling antique bits and pieces in his early teens. As well as flying duties (which ended in 2016), Craig had antiques stalls as a side line, first in Wales and then in the Tudor Rose, an antiques shop in Petworth, West Sussex. He had a particular love for English country house pieces.
Lockdown was spent together in Phillip’s home on Portland. ‘The first time I had ever been to Dorset,’ Craig admits. As restriction lifted in the summer of 2020, the couple visited Sherborne and had a picnic outside the Abbey. The local estate agents were opening again, and a quick visit to Rolfe East Estate Agents led to an unexpected property viewing. ‘We wanted an old house with lots of space, as well as a garage and a workshop,’ says Phillip. A house, hidden away on South Street, fitted the bill perfectly. The boys put in an offer which was swiftly accepted, and they got the keys on September 11.
Just a couple of months later the Edinburgh Woollen Mill went into administration, its Sherborne branch was set to close after Christmas. This was the opportunity Craig had longed for. The chance to set up their own antiques market right in the heart of the Dorset town that they now called home. Before the shop closed Craig and Phillip had a good look around the site, they knew it was the ideal location. Originally built for Woolworths, there was also loads of space. Poundland had already expressed interest, but realised, as Woolworths had before them, that access at the back for deliveries was limited. The boys knew they had to move fast if they wanted this location.
Early in the New Year they put in an offer. It wasn’t accepted. So, they contacted the building’s owner, who came down from London to meet them. Craig and Phillip’s enthusiasm and plans for the site so impressed the owner that their second offer was accepted. The empty shop became theirs at the end of May 2021. And Phillip gave in his notice at Dukes the moment the deal was secure.
Now the hard work began. Nothing had been done to the building for well over 20 years. It was full of rubbish, especially on the first floor. With the building cleaned and cleared, repairs sorted, and walls painted, the duo started the next stage of their plan. Letting the space to various antique dealers. How many could they have, and how much each space would cost?
‘We divided the shop into four zones, A to D, using tape, and then into subdivisions, working out what might go where,’ Craig explains. ‘We left larger areas for furniture and cabinets. Then we asked a friend of ours who used a wheelchair to test the access in the aisles before any final decisions were made.’ Large amounts of shelving left by the previous tenants also proved to be rather useful.
However, there’s no point having an antiques market with no dealers. So, to get the word out, a huge banner was erected over the entrance announcing that Sherborne Antiques Market would soon be opening. ‘We also advertised in the Antiques Trade Gazette, on Instagram and Facebook,’ adds Phillip. ‘We asked anyone interested to come into the shop between 11am and 4pm.’ Bookings quickly began to fill up as dealers signed up. ‘By the end of the first day we had enough stalls let to pay the shop rent and the utility bills,’ adds Craig.
Dorset-based antiques expert Paul Atterbury, a well-known face on the BBC Antiques Roadshow, was one of the first to sign up, taking a corner to show paintings. Judith Ogle, once a visual merchandiser (window dresser) for Heals, Habitat and Liberty’s, took a cabinet and a stall to showcase decorative interior pieces. And 22-year-old Tom Hurst, showing the keen dedication of an early Craig and Phillip, booked a spot to sell quirky ethnic and tribal pieces.
There are a few simple house rules for dealers to abide by. No reproduction Harry Potter boxes or ‘Gin O’clock’ signs, and absolutely nothing tacky. Dealers are required to do at least a day, or half a day, a week at their stand or stall, and maybe required to look after the till at times, along with the regular staff. It is all very informal and friendly.
Pandemic restrictions lifted two weeks before the grand opening on the July 31, just two months after the couple had taken ownership. All the dealers were there to raise a glass as Sherborne Antiques Market declared itself open for business.
Never ones to rest on their laurels, and to ensure a steady stream of curious customers, the window displays are changed every Monday. Craig and Phillip display their own purchases on the right-hand side - they have their own stall inside. The left-hand side can be booked, for a week, three times a year by the 42 dealers who are based here, so there are always new treasures to be spotted.
‘We do have a few rules for the windows,’ Craig explains. ‘They must be pleasing to the eye, but also a bit controversial and surprising. The idea is to get people talking.’
A great example of expecting the unexpected at Sherborne Antiques Market happened not long after they opened when, one Saturday morning, the window was given over to Sherborne resident Jo Burt, a former member of heavy metal rock band Black Sabbath. He performed Wild Thing, from his latest CD release Spontaneous, and was joined in the window by two
glamorous backing singers, Antonia (his wife) and Kathy. ‘They caused quite a stir in Cheap Street,’ chuckles Phillip, who says they often do live displays with someone in situ in the window.
It’s a clever way to keep people returning to your shop and their windows have become quite the local talking point now. Thought provoking, and visually appealing, they are also used to celebrate or commemorate events in the British calendar. Coming up in May will be displays inspired by the coronation of King Charles III with a royal extravaganza taking over both windows. So, make sure you swing by to see what eye-catching regally inspired display they have created.
Craig and Phillip are a delightfully charismatic couple to spend time with. Each has their own areas of expertise and interests when it comes to antiques. Early in his career, Phillip was told to specialise, advice he happily ignored ...for him it’s all periods of furniture. Craig, on the other hand, is a lover of all things Georgian.
However, away from Sherborne Antiques Market, they each have something that is greatly treasured. For Phillip, it’s his 1956 Morris Minor Traveller in Empire Green, with a split windscreen, bought in 1985. For Craig, it’s a black and white Boston terrier called Evie. Whether these two treasures will ever come together in a window display one Saturday morning on Cheap Street, who knows?
More at sherborneantiquesmarket.com follow on Facebook and Instagram to see their latest window displays and events
