Sherborne


Sherborne is a market town and civil parish in north west Dorset, in South West England. It is sited on the River Yeo, on the edge of the Blackmore Vale, east of Yeovil. The A30 road, which connects London to Penzance, runs through the town. In the 2011 census the population of Sherborne parish and the two electoral wards was 9,523. 28.7% of the population is aged 65 or older.
Sherborne's historic buildings include Sherborne Abbey, its manor house, independent schools, 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 buildings, is built from distinctive ochre-coloured ham stone.
The town is served by Sherborne railway station.

History

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", 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. 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.
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.

Governance

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. In county council elections, Dorset is divided into 42 electoral divisions, with Sherborne's two wards together forming Sherborne Electoral Division.

Education

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.

Historic buildings

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 : founded in 1177;
Lord Digby school, now known as Sherborne House. Sherborne House, famed for its mural by Sir James Thornhill. 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. Its renovation included rebuilding an unstable rear wall.
St Emerenciana's Chapel ; built in the late 14th Century. The only building in the country to have been dedicated to this saint.
There are 378 listed buildings within the town and 23 in Castleton, totalling 401, including 14 Grade I listed buildings and 21 Grade II* listed buildings.

Demographics

Notable residents

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, 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. Originally an agricultural fair, it is now devoted to stalls, sideshows and a funfair.

Sport and leisure

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

International relations

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.
Discussions regarding membership are also in hand with three further towns.

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