Sherborne Abbey

Sherborne Abbey, also called the Abbey Church of St. Mary the Virgin, is a beautiful Church of England church located in Sherborne in the county of Dorset. It has a very long and interesting history. From the year 705 to 1075, it was a important place for the Saxon people and a Catholic cathedral. Later, from 998 to 1539, it became a special church for the Benedictine monks.

In 1539, during a big change called the dissolution of the monasteries, the abbey became a Church of England parish church. This means it changed from being part of a monastery to being a regular church for people in the area to use. Even today, it is very special and well-known. In a book called England's Thousand Best Churches by Simon Jenkins, published in 1999, Sherborne Abbey was one of only 18 churches to receive the highest rating of five stars. This shows just how important and beautiful this place is.

History

This place has been important since Roman times. When people were digging in 1849–58, they found pieces of old Roman floors deep under the ground. They also found signs that a big church from the year 705 was built on a spot where an even older church might have stood.

A long time ago, a king named Ine of Wessex started a special church area in 705. A man named Aldhelm was the first leader of this area. Later, in 998, a man named Wulfsige III created a group of monks called a Benedictine abbey here. In 1075, the church stopped being the main church for the area, but it stayed important. In 1539, during a big change called the dissolution of the monasteries, the abbey stopped being a monastery. The people of Sherborne bought the building to use as their church, which it still is today.

Architecture

Sherborne Abbey is an important building with many different styles of architecture. It was built using a special type of brown stone called hamstone.

The first parts of the abbey were built a long time ago. When St Aldhelm built his cathedral around the year 705, it was in a different place than the current building. Later, Bishop Ælfwold II built a big cathedral and abbey church around the year 1050. Some of the old walls and columns from that time are still there today.

In the Norman style, many walls were built around the year 1140. The entrance porch was added around the year 1180. Later, in the Early English style, more parts like chapels were built.

In the 14th and 15th centuries, the abbey was rebuilt in the Perpendicular style. This included adding new chapels and rebuilding the quire. A big fire in 1437 during this time changed some of the stone to a pink colour. The famous fan-vaulting in the nave was finished around the year 1490.

In 1850, an architect named R.C. Carpenter made many changes to the abbey, adding new windows and parts to the porch.

Lady Chapel

The Lady Chapel stands where two older chapels once were. These chapels were used by a school and later turned into a home for the school’s headmaster. In 1934, a new Gothic-style Lady Chapel was added to the old remains.

The Lady Chapel holds a very old candle holder from 1657, likely from the Netherlands. It is made of brass and features a double-headed eagle on top, with branches and a globe below. This beautiful piece was restored in 1962 and placed in the Lady Chapel after falling during the Second World War.

Almshouses

St Thomas' Hospital

The first almshouse in Sherborne, called the Hospital of St. Thomas Becket, existed in 1228, though we don't know exactly when it was built. It was probably supported by a king and stood where a building called 'The Old Green' is today. By the early 1500s, it was no longer used, and by 1547 it had been torn down.

St Julian's Hospice

The Hospice of St Julian was founded around 1405, possibly named after a saint. It was located on the east side of The Green and was later given to support the St Johns' Almshouse in 1437. Though a nearby inn was rebuilt in the 1500s, the hospice and its passageway are still mostly original and are now used as a shop.

St Johns' Almshouse

Main article: St Johns' House, Sherborne

In 1406, a new almshouse was created in Hound Street by William Dodill. But by the 1430s, they needed a bigger place, so a new almshouse was started by the original trustees. In 1436/7, King Henry VI gave the foundation a special royal charter, making it the first fully licensed corporation in Sherborne.

The new almshouse, called St Johns' Almshouse, was finished in 1448. It included a chapel, a dining hall, and rooms for people to sleep. It is one of the best remaining examples of a medieval almshouse in a region called Wessex. Later improvements were made, such as adding more rooms in 1866.

Monastic buildings

Some of the buildings used by the monks were torn down after a big change in the church's rules in 1539. Most of the buildings that stayed are now part of the Sherborne School.

The main buildings of the monastery were usually placed around a special open space called a cloister. At Sherborne, these buildings were placed to the north instead of the usual south, probably to make it easier to get water from a nearby stream.

The cloisters were built by a leader named Abbot Frith between 1348 and 1373. This is where the monks would walk quietly, often in silence, as they exercised. Some old stone pieces from the 1300s still remain, showing where the roof once was. The cloisters were torn down around 1553, and in 1569, extra supports were added to the abbey using stone from an old castle.

In the 1100s, the monks built a stone channel to bring clean water from a spring to the cloister. This allowed them to wash before meals. A small building was added around 1520 to hold this water, but it was moved to the marketplace in 1553.

A thin, leaning building called the slype, owned by Sherborne School since 1550, is all that remains from a room where monks could rest. It also had a doorway to a place where monks were buried.

On the east side of the cloister was a room where monks met each day. This room was torn down around 1557 or 1558.

On the first floor of the east side was a room where the monks slept. By 1554, almost all of this room was gone, but a small part remained.

In the west part of the cloisters was a room that may have been used to welcome guests or to store food. It is now used as a library for Sherborne School.

A private room for the abbot, the leader of the monks, was located on the first floor to the west of the south cloister side. A special staircase made of stone still exists that led to this room.

A big room called the abbot's hall dates from the early 1400s. It is now used as the school chapel.

On the north side of the cloisters were the abbot's living space and the monks' kitchen, built around 1480. Part of the kitchen's big chimney and some carved designs can still be seen.

The refectory, where the monks ate their meals, stood on the north side of the cloisters. It was torn down in 1554, and its stones were used to build a schoolhouse.

All Hallows' Church

For many years, part of the abbey was used as a church for local people. In the 1300s, a new church called All Hallows was built for the townsfolk near the west end of the Abbey Church. This church had a long space for people to gather, with smaller rooms on the sides.

In 1450, this church became an important place for the community to worship. Later, around 1542, the church was torn down after the abbey closed, and another church became the main place for people to meet for worship. Some old pieces from All Hallows, like a special stone bowl for water, are now kept in another part of the abbey.

1437 riot

In 1437, the people of the town and the monks of the abbey had many disagreements. The monks changed where baptisms happened and made it harder to get to the place where baptisms were done. This upset the townspeople, who built their own place for baptisms.

When the monks complained, the bishop said the monks needed to fix things back to how they were before. But the monks did not listen. One night, the townspeople set fire to part of the abbey. This caused a lot of damage, but the main church was not hurt too badly. The town’s chapel became the main church for the people until the abbey closed many years later.

Military colours

The north nave aisle, also known as the 'Trinitie' or 'dark' aisle because it is covered by nearby buildings, holds several colours from the 2nd Battalion Dorsetshire Regiment and the Dorsetshire Militia. The south nave aisle displays colours from the 1st Battalion Dorsetshire Regiment.

Memorials and tombs

The north choir aisle has two tombs thought to belong to King Æthelbald of Wessex and his brother King Ethelbert of Wessex, who were older brothers of Alfred the Great.

Inside the Wykeham chapel, you can find the tomb of Sir John Horsey and his son. Horsey bought the church after the Dissolution of the Monasteries and then sold it to the people of the town. The chapel also holds a simple tomb for the poet Sir Thomas Wyatt.

The south transept holds a grand memorial made of marble for John Digby, the 3rd Earl of Bristol, created by John Nost. There is also a memorial for Robert and Mary Digby.

St Katherine's Chapel holds a tomb from the 1500s for John Leweston and his wife Joan. This is where Sir Walter Raleigh and his wife used to attend services.

The north aisle has a memorial for Abbot Clement from the year 1163 and a statue of an unknown priest. The south aisle holds a statue of Abbot Lawrence of Bradford from 1246.

Outside the abbey is the Digby Memorial, built in 1884 to honor George Digby. He helped pay for many renovations in the 1800s. The memorial includes statues of St Aldhelm, Bishop Roger of Salisbury (Roger de Caen), Abbot Bradford, and Sir Walter Raleigh.

Burials

• Æthelbald, King of Wessex
• Æthelberht, King of Wessex
• Thomas Wyatt (poet)
• John Horsey (died 1546)
• John Horsey (died 1564)
• John Leweston
• John Digby, 3rd Earl of Bristol
• William Digby, 5th Baron Digby

Reredos

Sherborne Abbey has two special decorations behind the altar, called reredos. One was made in 1969 by an artist named Laurence Whistler and is located in the Lady Chapel. It is made of beautiful glass. The other, larger reredos was put up in 1858 and was designed by someone named RH Carpenter.

Windows

Sherborne Abbey has many beautiful stained glass windows. Some windows show important stories from the Bible, like the tale of the baby Jesus and the Biblical Magi. Other windows remember special people and events, such as the Apostles Mark, Luke, Matthew, and John, and Saints Sidwell and Juthware (Juthwara).

Many of these windows were made by famous artists over the years. For example, the big east window was created by Clayton and Bell in 1856–58, and the great west window was designed by John Hayward and put in place in 1997.

Misericords

Sherborne Abbey has ten special carvings from around 1440, called misericords, placed on each side of the choir area. On the north side, you can see carvings of a man with a hood, a funny-looking man, and scenes from stories about judgment and coming back to life. On the south side, there are carvings of a woman praying, a chained monkey, a man hitting a boy, a person shooting an arrow at someone on a horse, and a woman hitting a man. These carvings tell old stories and show interesting pictures made by artists long ago.

Bells

The central tower from the 1400s holds the heaviest set of eight bells in the world. The biggest bell weighs 46 hundredweight and 5 pounds, which is about 5,157 pounds or 2,340 kilograms. These bells are not the same as a peal, which is a special way of ringing bells called change ringing.

Long ago, before the Normans, people rang the bells from a place below the tower. Ringing such heavy bells with long ropes would have needed a lot of effort, and probably two or three people to ring each heavy bell. In 1858, a new place to ring the bells was built just above the tower.