Editing Sherborne

{{short description|Market town and civil parish in Dorset, England}}
{{about|the town in Dorset, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}}
{{Infobox UK place
| official_name= Sherborne
| local_name=
| civil_parish=  Sherborne
| unitary_england= [[Dorset Council (UK)|Dorset]]
| lieutenancy_england = [[Dorset]]
| type= [[Market town]]
| country= England
| region= South West England
| static_image_name= Sherborne Abbey (St. Mary) (19487821554).jpg
| static_image_caption= Sherborne Abbey
| population = {{Population WD|show=value}}
| population_ref = ({{Population WD|show=year}})
| os_grid_reference= ST638165
| map_type= Dorset
| coordinates = {{coord|50.9469|-2.5171|display=inline,title}}
| london_distance= {{convert|124|mi|km|0|abbr=on}}
| post_town= Sherborne
| postcode_area= DT
| postcode_district= DT9
| dial_code= 01935
| constituency_westminster= [[West Dorset (constituency)|West Dorset]]
| website=
}}

'''Sherborne''' is a [[market town]] and [[civil parishes in England|civil parish]] in north west [[Dorset]], in [[South West England]]. It is sited on the [[River Yeo (South Somerset)|River Yeo]], on the edge of the [[Blackmore Vale]], {{convert|6|mi|km|0|abbr=off}} east of [[Yeovil]]. The parish includes the hamlets of '''Nether Coombe''' and '''Lower Clatcombe'''. The [[A30 road]], which connects London to [[Penzance]], runs through the town. In the [[United Kingdom Census 2021|2021 census]] the population of Sherborne was 10,361.<ref name=census2021>{{cite web |title=Parish Profiles |url=https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/sources/census_2021_pp |publisher=Office for National Statistics |access-date=5 August 2024}}</ref>

Sherborne's historic buildings include [[Sherborne Abbey]], its [[Sherborne House, Dorset|manor house]], [[independent school]]s, and two castles: the ruins of a 12th-century fortified palace and the 16th-century mansion known as [[Sherborne Castle]] built by [[Sir Walter Raleigh]]. Much of the old town, including the abbey and many [[medieval]] and [[Georgian architecture|Georgian]] buildings, is built from distinctive [[ochre]]-coloured [[ham stone]].

The town is served by [[Sherborne railway station]].

==Toponymy==
The town was named ''scir burne'' by the [[Anglo-Saxons|Saxon]] inhabitants, a name meaning "clear stream", after a brook that runs through the centre of the town,<ref name="Town History">{{cite web|url=http://www.sherbornetown.com/history.aspx|title=History of Sherborne |access-date=11 May 2020}}</ref> and is referred to as such in the [[Domesday Book]].

==History==
[[File:SherborneConduit.jpg|thumb|The Conduit]]
In 705 the [[diocese]] of [[Wessex]] was split between Sherborne and [[Winchester, Hampshire|Winchester]], and [[Ine of Wessex|King Ine]] founded an abbey for [[Aldhelm, Bishop of Sherborne|St Aldhelm]], the first [[Bishop of Salisbury|Bishop of Sherborne]], which covered Dorset, Somerset, and Devon. King [[Alfred the Great]]'s elder brothers, [[Æthelbald, King of Wessex|King Æthelbald]] and [[Æthelberht, King of Wessex|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.<ref>''Studies in the Early History of Shaftesbury Abbey''. Dorset County Council, 1999</ref> The bishop's seat was moved to [[Old Sarum]] in 1075 and the church at Sherborne became a [[Benedictine]] [[monastery]]. In 1437 the Abbey was damaged by fire after tensions between the town and the monastery came to a head, but much of the [[Norman architecture|Norman]] structure stands today. Following the [[Dissolution of the Monasteries]], in 1539, the vacated monastery buildings were bought by Sir [[John Horsey (died 1546)|John Horsey]] and became the parish church. Sherborne was the centre of [[Sherborne Hundred]] for many centuries.

In the 12th century [[Roger de Caen]], [[Bishop of Salisbury]] and [[Chancellor of England]], built a fortified palace in Sherborne. During the [[English Civil War]], the palace was destroyed in 1645 by [[General Fairfax]]. Its ruins are now 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]].<ref>
{{cite book
|last= Baxter
|first= James Phinney
|author-link= James Phinney Baxter
|author2=Levett, Christoper
 |title= Christopher Levett, of York, the pioneer colonist in Casco Bay
|year=1893
|url=https://archive.org/details/christopherleve00levegoog
|page= [https://archive.org/details/christopherleve00levegoog/page/n31 7]
|quote= christopher levett sherborne.
|access-date= 2008-11-13
|publisher= Gorges Society
|location= Portland, Maine, USA}}
</ref>

==Governance==
In the UK national parliament, Sherborne is within the [[West Dorset (UK Parliament constituency)|West Dorset parliamentary constituency]]. {{As of|2024}}, the [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] (MP) is [[Edward Morello]] of the [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrats]]. 

In [[local government]], Sherborne is in the [[Dorset (district)|Dorset unitary authority]] at the highest tier. Sherborne elects 2 members to [[Dorset Council (UK)|Dorset Council]] from two [[Wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom|electoral wards]], [[Sherborne East (ward)|Sherborne East]] and [[Sherborne West (ward)|Sherborne West]]. A third electoral ward, [[Sherborne Rural (ward)|Sherborne Rural]], contains the rural hinterland and surrounding villages, but none of Sherborne parish itself.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20221201182035mp_/https://s3-eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/lgbce/Reviews/South%20West/Dorset/Dorset/draft%20Order/Dorset_IT_SO.pdf | title=Map referred to in the Dorset (Electoral Changes) Order 2018 | publisher=[[Local Government Boundary Commission for England]] | date=2018 | access-date=3 August 2024}}</ref>

At the lower tier of local government, Sherborne is a [[civil parish]] with a 12-member [[parish council (England)|parish council]], which styles itself as Sherborne Town Council.<ref>{{cite web |title=Councillors – Sherborne Town Council |url=https://sherborne-tc.gov.uk/council/councillors/ |date=30 September 2024}}</ref>

{{Emblem table
|collapsed = y
|name = Arms of Sherborne Town Council
| image            = [[File:Arms_of_Sherborne_Town_Council.svg|150px|Image: 150 pixels]]
|shield =  Azure a Cross triparted and fretted Argent between four Double Roses Gules on Argent en soliel barbed and seeded Gold.
|crest = Out of an Ancient Crown Or a double headed and twin-tailed Wyvern displayed Argent armed and langued Gules.
|torse = Argent and Azure
|supporters = On either side a Griffin segreant reguardant the aquiline parts Argent beaked and gorged with an Ancient Crown Or the leonine parts also Or armed and langued Gules.
|motto = Soli Deo Honor Et Gloria (To God Alone Be Honour And Glory)
|badge = A Crozier Or enfiling a Tower with a portal Argent.
|notes = Registered 1986<ref>{{cite web|url=http://civicheraldry.co.uk/south_west.html |title= South West Region |publisher=civicheraldry.co.uk |access-date=12 March 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/armorial_bearings_93#incoming-2765065 |publisher=WhatDoTheyKnow |accessdate=29 September 2024 |title=Armorial Bearings}}</ref>}}

Historically, Sherborne was in [[Sherborne Hundred]], and became a borough in 1227. It was an [[urban district (England and Wales)|urban district]] from 1894 to 1974.<ref>{{cite web |title=Early 20th Century Sherborne (1900- 1945) |url=https://www.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/documents/35024/286472/Part_5.6_Historical_development___Early_20th_Century.pdf/139dbdf3-21ad-acc3-2802-ea4c7c4f560c |website=Dorset Historic Towns Survey: Sherborne}}</ref> A separate [[rural district]] council, [[Sherborne Rural District]], administered the surrounding parishes during this period, but did not include the town itself.<ref>{{cite web |title=Place:Sherborne Rural, Dorset, England - Genealogy |url=https://www.werelate.org/wiki/Place:Sherborne_Rural%2C_Dorset%2C_England |website=www.werelate.org}}</ref> From 1974 to 2019, Sherborne was in [[West Dorset]] district.<ref>[[Local Government Act 1972]]</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2018/648/contents/made|title=The Bournemouth, Dorset and Poole (Structural Changes) Order 2018|author=Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government|date=25 May 2018|access-date=2018-05-28|website=legislation.gov.uk}}</ref>

==Education==
{{Unreferenced section|date=February 2022}}
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 school]]s in Britain, with alumni such as Cecil Day-Lewis, [[Alan Turing]], [[Jeremy Irons]], [[Chris Martin]], [[John le Carré]], [[Hugh Bonneville]] and [[John Cowper Powys]]. Sherborne School operates [[Sherborne International]], a school which seeks to integrate international students into the [[British public school]] tradition.

[[Leweston School]] was founded as St. Anthony's in 1891 by the Sisters of Christian Instruction, Sacred Heart nuns from Belgium with Jesuit principles, who originally operated a full boarding school for girls in Sherborne town. The senior school moved to the Leweston Manor estate in 1948 and became known as St Antony's-Leweston; in 1993 the Preparatory school, which has since grown to include a nursery, followed. Leweston transitioned from a girls only school to fully co-educational in all years during a four-year transitional period from 2018 to 2021. The 2022 ISI inspection report described the quality of pupils' personal development  in the senior school as excellent. The early years provision was described as outstanding in every category of inspection. Notable alumnae include businesswoman and conservative life peer Dido Harding, Baroness Harding of Winscombe and actresses Kristen Scott Thomas and Serena Scott Thomas
 
[[Sherborne School for Girls]], often simply known as Sherborne Girls was founded in 1895. Its notable alumnae include the opera singer [[Emma Kirkby]] and the scientist [[Rosa Beddington]].

[[Sherborne Preparatory School]] is located opposite Sherborne School, and many of its pupils choose to go on to Sherborne School or Sherborne Girls.

Until 1992 there were also two [[grammar school]]s, 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 town also has two primary schools, Sherborne Abbey Primary School and Sherborne Primary School.

[[File:Dorset sherborne house.jpg|thumb|[[Sherborne House, Dorset|Sherborne House]]]]

== Local Media ==

The local radio station is [[Abbey104]], a community based radio station that broadcasts to the town and surrounding areas in [[Dorset]] and [[Somerset]]. 

The town’s local newspapers are the [[Sherborne Mercury]] and [[Dorset Echo]].

==Historic buildings==
[[File:Almshouse, Sherborne - geograph.org.uk - 3609545.jpg|thumb|St Johns' Almshouses]]
There are 378 listed buildings within the town,<ref>{{cite web|title=Search Results for Sherborne|url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/results?searchtype=nhleadvanced |publisher=[[Historic England]] |access-date=8 May 2018}}</ref> and a further 23 in Castleton parish (the rural parish which almost surrounds the town).<ref>{{cite web|title=Search results for Castleton|url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/results?searchtype=nhleadvanced |publisher=[[Historic England]] |access-date=8 May 2018}}</ref> These include 14 Grade I listed buildings and 21 Grade II* listed buildings.

The [[almshouse]]s of [[John the Baptist]] and [[John the Evangelist]] were founded in 1437, and building completed in 1448. It was expanded in 1866 in indistinguishable [[medieval architecture]], and continues to be a residential institution to the present day.<ref>[https://stjohnshouse.org/ St Johns' House]</ref>

The Abbey Gatehouse, once the east [[gatehouse]] to the former [[Benedictine]] monastery. Following the [[dissolution of the monasteries]], the building was sold off and used for secular purposes. Since 1966, it has been occupied by [[Sherborne Museum]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-08-04 |title=About - Sherborne Museum |url=https://www.sherbornemuseum.com/about/ |access-date=2023-04-18 |language=en-US}}</ref>

Lord Digby school, now known as [[Sherborne House, Dorset|Sherborne House]], was designed by [[Benjamin Bastard]]. Famed for its mural by [[Sir James Thornhill]],<ref>[http://www.sherbornehouse.org.uk/sherborne-house/ Sherborne House] at Sherborne House Arts website. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130812200144/http://sherbornehouse.org.uk/sherborne-house/ |date=12 August 2013 }}.</ref> it was a subject for the [[BBC]]'s ''Restoration'' programme in 2004.

Other notable historic buildings in the town include the 1405 [[Hostel|Hospice]] of [[Julian the Hospitaller|St Julian]]; and No. 101 Newland, built in 1297; and St Emerenciana's Chapel (now Nethercoombe Farm), built in the late 14th century and the only building in the country to have been dedicated to this saint. Also listed is the [[Aqueduct (watercourse)|Conduit]], originally built in the Abbey Cloister in 1520 as the monks' wash place before it was moved to the market place in 1560.

==Churches==
[[File:Sherborne - geograph.org.uk - 4281404.jpg|thumb|upright|United Reformed and Methodist Church, viewed from Cheap Street.]]
The [[Church of England parish church]] – [[Sherborne Abbey]] – is the most prominent building in the town. St Paul's Church is another [[Church of England]] church, in the northeast of the town.<ref>[https://spcs.church/ St Paul's Sherborne]</ref> The [[Bishop of Sherborne]] is a suffragan bishop in the [[Diocese of Salisbury]].

There is a [[Catholic Church in England and Wales|Catholic]] church – the Church of The Sacred Heart and St Aldhelm – located on Westbury.<ref>{{cite web |title=Sherborne Catholic Church |url=https://www.sherbornecatholicchurch.org.uk/ |website=Sherborne Catholic Church|access-date=12 March 2025}}</ref>

Cheap Street Church is a joint [[Methodist Church of Great Britain|Methodist]] and [[United Reformed Church|United Reformed]] congregation.<ref>{{cite web |title=Welcome to Cheap Street Church |url=https://www.cheapstreetchurch.co.uk |website=Cheap Street Church |access-date=27 October 2020}}</ref> Originally a Methodist church, it was built in stages through the mid-late 19th Century and is Grade II listed.<ref>[https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1152188?section=official-list-entry Historic England] The Methodist Church, Sherborne</ref>

==Demographics==
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Population of Sherborne by census year
!1841
!1851
!1861
!1871
!1891
!1931
!2011
!2021
|-
|3,485
|5,254
|5,852
|6,129
|5,001
|7,007
|9,523
|10,361
|}

At the 2011 census, 28.7% of the population is aged 65 or older.<ref name="2011 census age">{{cite web|url=http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadTableView.do?a=7&b=11128405&c=DT9+3RS&d=16&e=62&g=6418567&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&m=0&r=0&s=1368825400293&enc=1&dsFamilyId=2474|title=Age Structure, 2011 (KS102EW) – Sherborne (Parish)|publisher=Office for National Statistics|access-date=17 May 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140203031438/http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadTableView.do?a=7&b=11128405&c=DT9+3RS&d=16&e=62&g=6418567&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&m=0&r=0&s=1368825400293&enc=1&dsFamilyId=2474|archive-date=3 February 2014}}</ref>

==Notable residents==
{{See also|List of Old Shirburnians}}

* [[Mike Davis (rugby union)|Mike Davis]], a rugby player and coach with [[England national rugby union team|England]].
*[[John Hyatt (minister)|John Hyatt]] (1767-1826), Influential nonconformist pastor and missionary.
* The social reformer and moralist Rev Sir [[James Marchant]] died here in 1956.
* Olympic sailor [[Andrew Simpson (sailor)|Andrew Simpson]] (1976–2013) lived here.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/115333-largest-sailing-race-in-24-hours-multiple-venues|title=Largest Sailing Race in 24 Hours (Multiple Venues)|website=guinnessworldrecords.com|publisher=Guinness World Records|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180118012728/http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/115333-largest-sailing-race-in-24-hours-multiple-venues|archive-date=2018-01-18|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* Olympic field hockey player [[Michael Walford]] lived and worked here for many years before his death in 2002.

==Environment and community==
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 Towns|Transition Town]],<ref>{{cite web | url= http://www.transitionnetwork.org/initiatives/sherborne | title= Sherborne | publisher= Transition Network | access-date= 2 May 2011 | url-status= dead | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110516034427/http://www.transitionnetwork.org/initiatives/sherborne | archive-date= 16 May 2011}}</ref> running a number of projects and events as a community response to [[climate change]] and [[peak oil]].

==Pack Monday Fair==
The town has for centuries hosted an annual street fair, [[Pack Monday Fair]], starting on the Monday following 10 October ([[Michaelmas|Old Michaelmas Day]]). Originally an agricultural fair, it is now devoted to stalls, sideshows and a funfair.<ref name="Englishyear">{{cite book | title=The English Year | publisher=Penguin Books | author=Roud, Steve | year=2006 | location=London | pages=385–387 | isbn=978-0-140-51554-1}}</ref>

==Sport and leisure==
Sherborne has a [[non-League football]] club [[Sherborne Town FC]], a cricket club (Sherborne CC), and a rugby club, [[Sherborne RFC]].

==International relations==
{{See also|List of twin towns and sister cities in the United Kingdom}}

Sherborne is a founding member of the [[Douzelage]], a [[twin towns and sister cities|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.<ref name="Douzelage">{{cite web |url=http://www.douzelage.org/ |title=Douzelage.org: Home |publisher=douzelage.org |access-date=2009-10-21 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100217044329/http://www.douzelage.org/ |archive-date=17 February 2010}}</ref><ref name="DouzelageMembers">{{cite web |url=http://www.douzelage.org/index.php?id=15 |title=Douzelage.org: Member Towns |publisher=douzelage.org |access-date=2009-10-21 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090406142434/http://www.douzelage.org/index.php?id=15 |archive-date=6 April 2009}}</ref>
Discussions regarding membership are also in hand with three further towns ([[Agros, Cyprus|Agros]] in Cyprus, [[Škofja Loka]] in Slovenia, and [[Tryavna]] in Bulgaria).
{|class="wikitable"
|- valign="top"
|
:[[Altea]], [[Spain]] – 1991
:[[Bad Kötzting]], [[Germany]] – 1991
:[[Bellagio (Italian region)|Bellagio]], [[Italy]] – 1991
:[[Bundoran]], [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]] – 1991
:[[Granville, Manche|Granville]], [[France]] – 1991<ref name="Archant twinning">{{cite web|url=http://www.completefrance.com/language-culture/twin-towns|title=British towns twinned with French towns|access-date = 2013-07-11|work=Archant Community Media Ltd}}</ref>
:[[Holstebro]], [[Denmark]] – 1991
||

:[[Houffalize]], [[Belgium]] – 1991
:[[Meerssen]], the [[Netherlands]] – 1991
:[[Niederanven]], [[Luxembourg]] – 1991
:[[Preveza]], [[Greece]] – 1991
:[[Sesimbra]], [[Portugal]] – 1991
:Sherborne, [[United Kingdom]] – 1991
||
:[[Karkkila]], [[Finland]] – 1997
:[[Oxelösund]], [[Sweden]] – 1998
:[[Judenburg]], [[Austria]] – 1999
:[[Chojna]], [[Poland]] – 2004
:[[Kőszeg]], [[Hungary]] – 2004
:[[Sigulda]], [[Latvia]] – 2004
||
:[[Sušice]], [[Czech Republic]] – 2004
:[[Türi]], [[Estonia]] – 2004
:[[Zvolen]], [[Slovakia]] – 2007
:[[Prienai]], [[Lithuania]] – 2008
:[[Marsaskala]], [[Malta]] – 2009
:[[Siret]], [[Romania]] – 2010
|}

[[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 (politician)|Thomas Ridout]].

==Sources and references==
=== General sources===
* Pitt-Rivers, Michael, 1968.  ''Dorset''.  London: Faber & Faber.
* ''The 1985 AA illustrated guide to the towns and villages of Britain''.

=== Citations ===
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Sherborne}}
* [http://www.sherbornetown.co.uk/ Town web site]

{{Dorset}}
{{Douzelage}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Sherborne| ]]
[[Category:Market towns in Dorset]]
[[Category:Towns in Dorset]]
[[Category:Civil parishes in Dorset]]