Sherborne Area
This description of the Sherborne area has the following headings: Introduction, Landscapes, Market Towns and Villages.
Introduction
The Sherborne area includes North Dorset, South Somerset and parts of West Wiltshire. It is rural England at it's most appealing, a peaceful, largely unspoilt land of ancient market towns and many picturesque and equally ancient villages. It was scarcely touched by the industrial revolution. There it has been for centuries and the impression is that there it will continue to be for centuries to come. It is predominantly an agricultural area with a diverse countryside of well-wooded scenery that is great for walking, cycling and horse riding. For the visitor, the area is perhaps characterised best by the local Ham stone which has been used throughout these centuries in the building of the area’s towns and villages. It is a lovely warm stone that fits beautifully into the landscape of green that surrounds it. An exception is in the north of the area where the local stone is grey lias which has its own appeal.It is a place where you can stay in the comfort of a historic country inn, an old farmhouse or a quaint thatched cottage. You can discover the individual character of the towns and be rewarded with historic houses, cottages and churches and quaint old pubs. You will find art galleries, craft shops, antique shops and shops selling local products. Or you can stroll through some of the Ham stone villages and get in touch with village life in a way that can never be done from a car or coach. Explore the rolling landscape, listen to the sounds and the silence of the countryside and relax in a welcoming pub with a glass of whatever takes your fancy and a taste of the home cooked local food.
Yeovil is the area’s biggest town but Sherborne is its prime tourism centre with its two castles, its glorious abbey and interest that ranges from King Alfred to Alan Turing, the genius who developed the first computer. Of particular note in the area are the outstanding gardens that include Stourhead, possibly England’s finest landscape garden and, at the other end of the scale, the delightful English cottage garden of Chiff Chaffs. There are also the historic houses such as the imposing Montacute House and the more intimate Sandford Orcas Manor. And the village churches that form such an attractive part of the landscape. The Sherborne area is not a place to rush about. It is a place to relax and move at the pace of rural life, a place to explore and to be refreshed.
Landscape
The landscape around Sherborne is one of rolling hills with fields and woods. In the valleys, rivers and streams wind their way through the countryside. This is livestock farming country, primarily with dairy cattle and sheep. The view almost everywhere is of green fields and hedges interspersed with woods and of villages with their church towers poking through the trees. It is the countryside that Constable painted, the rural countryside that is uniquely English. This landscape contain many conservation areas and is bordered on three sides by designated “Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty” (AONB). It reflects some of the flavour of all three, the Mendip Hills to the north, Cranborne Chase to the east and the Dorset AONB in the south. With its central location, Sherborne is within easy reach of all of them.
The Vale is the fertile flood plain of the River Stour which is bordered by an arc of chalk hills which include Bulbarrow, Hambledon and Melbury Hills. The gentle rolling clay pastures of the Blackmore Vale, vividly depicted by Thomas Hardy form a patchwork quilt of fields, hedgerows and tucked-away villages. The serene and picturesque valleys of the Rivers Stour, Allen and Crane with their tranquil water meadows and lush vegetation are particularly rich in wildlife and make the perfect setting for an afternoon stroll or a leisurely ride.
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Market Towns
Sherborne
Sherborne is widely recognised as one of the most attractive towns in England. What makes it so appealing is:
The town’s history can almost be charted through the fortunes of Sherborne Abbey and the town’s two castles. The Saxons named the town scir burne - the place of the clear stream - and made it the capital of Wessex.
Bruton
This small town, situated 15 miles north of Sherborne, seems to be a town that time has almost forgotten. It has a long history that is reflected throughout the town centre. The High Street contains a number of intriguing lanes and interesting buildings including Sexey’s Hospital founded in 1638 and further on, the 15th century Packhorse Bridge. The best way to enjoy Bruton is to walk around its narrow streets and lanes. Bruton was definitely a settlement in the 7th century. It was a Saxon borough and King Ine of Wessex mentioned a church there. In the 10th century there is reference to a royal mint in Bruton and in the 11th century Domesday Book, it is shown as a reasonably sized community. In 1142 an Augustinian Priory replaced the earlier Benedictine monastery. It became Bruton Abbey in 1511, was turned into a mansion after the 1539 Dissolution and and was largely destroyed in 1786. One wall and
some other fragments of the abbey buildings remain.
Castle Cary
Castle Cary is an attractive small town 12 miles north of Sherborne. Little is known of the town’s history. A Norman castle of some importance was built, probably in the late 11th or early 12th Century on Lodge Hill. It was besieged twice in 1138 and 1148 - and was probably destroyed after about 1153 AD. Cloth has been produced commercially in Castle Cary since at least the fourteenth century. The town is built of 'Ham' stone from nearby quarries, which gives the town's buildings their lovely golden colour. Buildings of interest include the 1779 Round House formerly used as a lock- up for offenders, one of only four left in the country, the 18th century Post Office, the imposing Market House and the 13th Century George Hotel, an old coaching inn. Its considerable visitor appeal, however, stems more from the present rather than from the past. This may be a traditional market town with a winding high
street but what makes it different is the energy of the place.
In a community with a population of little more than a rather large village there are over 50 shops and they seem always to be busy at a time when many villages have trouble keeping one shop in business. In Castle Cary, there is a wide range of independent stores offering shopping the way it used to be. There is a good range of specialist retailers, bakers, delicatessens, gift shops and cafes as well as shops selling antiques, wine and everything for the garden. It is a great place to stroll around, wander into some of the shops, perhaps a cafe and absorb the local atmosphere.
Chard
Chard lies 24 miles east of Sherborne. In the Domesday Book of 1086, it was described as a typical agrarian settlement. It became a borough in 1235 and a market town shortly afterwards. Through the centuries, the two main staples of its economy have been agriculture and the cloth industry. A stroll down the High Street, flanked by two streams, takes the visitor to a series of historic buildings including Chough Inn 1600, Godworthy House 1580, the town museum,Harvey’s Hospital 1663 and the Guildhall, 1834. Hornsbury Mill with its working wheel and landscaped water garden and the Chard Reservoir Nature Reserve are attractions near the town. Chard calls itself the Home of Powered Flight because it was here that Joseph Stringfellow, in June 1848 was the first to fly a heavier than air steam-powered aircraft. The Stringfellow Collection is kept in the Godworthy House Museum.
Crewkerne
Crewkerne is a busy market town, 16 miles west of Sherborne. The area was held by the Kings of Wessex and is mentioned in the will of King Alfred. There was a market here in the early 11th century and a Saxon mint. Until the cloth industry’s expansion in Crewkerne in the 18th century, the town relied mainly on trade generated by its market and on its role as a stopping point for travellers en route from London to Exeter.
Ilchester
. Ilchester was once a major Roman garrison town (“chester”) at an important junction on the Fosse Way, evidence of which is found in the Ilchester museum. In Saxon times, it was a walled town and had a mint. From 1166 to to the mid 19th century, it was the county town of Somerset and the famous Ilchester Jail, in use throughout this period, was the County Jail. In the 13th century it had no less than six parish churches which indicates its importance as a
county town.
Martock
Martock is 15 miles west of Sherborne. It is a large village that has grown into a town. Martock has long been a prosperous agricultural centre and has fostered having glove and clothmaking industries. Now it has also branched out into a variety of new industries. The part that is of most interest to visitors is the old centre of the town where the buildings reflect the warm colour of Ham stone. Here, there is a lovely cluster of 17th and 18th century houses and medieval cottages gathered around the church. Most of the church is 15th century. The architectural style is perpendicular constructed, like the buildings that surround it in Ham stone. In his book “England’s Thousand Best Churches”, Simon Jenkins says that the interior of Martock church is among the finest in the area and says of the nave roof “the work in rich oak was completed in 1513 and has never been bettered”.
Shaftesbury
Shaftesbury is a most attractive hill top town,16 miles east of Sherborne and 20 miles west of Salisbury that offers splendid views over three counties and has a fine collection of historical buildings. It was the “Shaston” of Thomas Hardy’s novels. The hilltop position gives it a long history. It was founded in 880 by King Alfred who fortified his new town and, believing his defences to be secure, added a Benedictine abbey and made his daughter its first prioress. It remained an important town throughout the Saxon period, At its peak, the abbey was the largest woman`s religious community in England and the abbess of Shaftesbury was the “governor” of Shaftesbury in the Middle Ages. The abbey was dissolved by Henry VIII in 1539. The town was then governed by a Royal; Charter granted by Queen Elizabeth 1 in 1570. Today, Shaftesbury is a very pleasant country market town. Its two main visitor
attractions are the much photographed Gold Hill with its steep cobbles and picturesque cottages and the remains of the abbey where there is an interesting museum.
Somerton
Somerton, 15 miles NW of Sherborne, has been in existance for over 2,000 years. The first signs of Roman inhabitation in the area are dated to around A.D. 48. The district was scattered with Roman villas, the remains of which have been found in nearby Pitney and Low Ham. The West Saxons colonised the town during the 100 years after the demise of the Roman Empire in Britain and pillaged and destroyed the Roman villas in the area. It later became the centre of a major royal estate. Some say it was for a time the capital of Wessex. By the 9th century, records show it to have been the county town of “Somersaete”, one of the four divisions of Wessex.
Through the ages, Somerton continued to be an active agricultural centre and market town. It became a borough in the 13th century but it never regained the prominence it enjoyed in Saxon times Today, the 17th century square, market cross, town hall,
elegant houses and inns create an attractive townscape of outstanding architectural and historical interest. Pevsner said “the market place of Somerton is one of the most happily grouped urban pictures”.
Sturminster Newton
Sturminster Newton is located 12 miles south west of Sherborne. Records shows it to have been a royal estate owned by King Alfred. Since then, it has remained an agricultural centre, the market town for the Stour farmlands and the “de facto” capital of the Blackmore Vale which surrounds it. The town centre is made colourful by the many bow-windowed buildings of brick, stone and cob. There are also good thatched, timber- traced houses leading up to the pretty market square where, on Monday mornings, crowds of farmers and dairymen overflow into the station yard and surrounding streets. . Sturminster Newton is an attractive place for visitors to spend a while, perhaps to take lunch in one of the market square’s welcoming pubs and browse around its shops. Thomas Hardy lived here or some years and portrayed it in “The Return of the Native”. Two other attractions are its gracefully arched 15th century
bridge over the River Stour and its 17th century town mill which is still in good working order.
Villages
BarringtonBarrington is located 23 miles west of Sherborne. It is a very pretty village which one writer described as “an enchanting essay in Ham stone”. The Domesday Book (1086) records it as being part of the Manor of South Petherton. The estate passed to the Daubeny family in 1225 and they retained it for over 300 years. Today, cottages of Ham stone and thatch, old and new, line the village streets that lead to the Elizabethan mansion, Barrington Court and its famous gardens and parkland. This was, in 1907, the first property to be acquired by the National Trust. The parish church of St Mary, with its unusual octagonal central crossing tower, dates from the 13th century.
Compton Pauncefoot
Compton Pauncefoot is a very pretty secluded village, 8 miles north of Sherborne. The mellow Ham stone of the buildings set among green wooded hills has led writers to call it “idyllic”. Originally a Norman manor, the village now has an appearance that dates from the 17th century. Located around the triangular shaped green are the church, the Georgian rectory used in filming Jane Austen’s “Mansfield Park” and the 18th century manor house. To complete the picture there is a stream feeding a duck pond and, up the hill, a fairytale castle built in 1825.
Dowlish Wake
Dowlish Wake a picture book stone built village with a stream running through it, 22 miles west of Sherborne. Speke Hall (the manor house), the church and the Dower House are centrally located and the charming thatched cottages run north- south from them along the stream. The lords of the manor are the Speke family, descendants of Ralph Wake who built the manor house in the 12th century. The most famous member of the family was John Hanning Speke, the explorer who discovered the source of the Nile and who is buried in Dowlish Wake church. Also of interest to visitors is Perry’s Cider Mill which is in an old farm building near the village centre and produces quality cider. As one writer said “large quantities of it render the world an infinitely more sympathetic, if slightly less distinct, place”.
East Coker
East Coker is a small Ham stone jewel of a village,10 miles west of Sherborne. It is full of attractive houses, many dating from the 16th century plus rows of 17th century almshouses and a very good village pub, The Helyar Arms, originally built in 1491. All are clustered below the manor and church. There is evidence of settlement here in the Roman period and, at the time of the Norman Conquest, the estate was owned by the mother of King Harold. Since 1616 it has been in the hands of the Helyar family. The village church is of particular interest to visitors not just because it is an attractive church but also because of two men who are buried in it. One is William Dampier, explorer and buccaneer, the first Englishman to set foot in Australia. He did this almost 100 years before Captain Cook. The other is the poet T.S. Eliot who returned to East Coker, the home of his family, when he retired.
Evershot
Evershot is 12 miles SW of Sherborne. It is a small village with a main street of stone houses and raised pavements that might belong more in an old Dorset town. Despite this, it is a streetscape that is very attractive and has been used as the set for period films.
In the middle of the village is the Acorn, a 16th century coaching inn with a long history. In his novel, “Tess of the d’Urbervilles”, Thomas Hardy called it “The Sow and the Acorn”. Further up the street, just beyond the church, is Tess Cottage which some feel may have been the place in the novel where Tess stayed. And then, a short way off the main street is Summer Lodge Country House Hotel, a Relais & Chateaux property in a fine Georgian house.
Outside Evershot is Melbury House, the seat of the Earls of Ilchester. Melbury Park which surrounds it is a great place for visitors who enjoy a country walk.
Hinton
St. George
Hinton St. George is a very attractive and unspoilt village 18 miles west of Sherborne. The main street contains a succession of fine Ham stone houses dating from the 17th and early 18th centuries. The first record of the manor of Hinton St. George is in the 13th century. It passed by marriage to William Poulett in 1429 and the Poulett family were lords of the manor for 400 years acquiring a barony and an earldom along the way. They continued to occupy Hinton House until 1968. It was then sold and divided into apartments. In the middle of the village is a well known pub, called, needless to say, The Poulett Arms. St. George is a Ham stone church, Perpendicular in style and full of Poulett memorials. One of them is to the Poulett who guarded Mary Queen of Scots when she was jailed by Queen Elizabeth 1.
Kingsdon
Kingsdon is a lovely Ham stone village with a distinctive character 15 miles north west of Sherborne. The triangular shaped village was built on the slopes of the hill of the same name and contains many picturesque farmhouses and cottages that are early 17th century. The Church of All Saints dates from the 12th century. but with 13th and 14th century extensions and changes. Tucked away in the centre of the village is the Kingsdon Inn, a very popular village pub that looks straight out of an advertisement and serves good home cooked food.
Montacute
Montacute lies 10 miles west of Sherborne. The continuous progression of history is clearly visible in the buildings and monuments of this important medieval village, almost all of which is built of Ham stone. The parish church dates from Norman times and nearby are the remains of the Cluniac priory (mainly the handsome Gatehouse) that
was founded in 1102. In the centre of the village is the magnificent Montacute House (National Trust) which was completed in 1601 for the Phelips family thatch held the estate for more than three centuries.
Muchelney
Muchelney is a charming small village situated 21 miles north west of Sherborne and well known because of its ancient abbey. Monks were first established at Muchelney by King Ine of Wessex in the seventh century. Destroyed by the Vikings, the abbey was rebuilt in 950 and again altered by the Normans. The present remains of the abbey date mainly from the 12th century. The most conspicuous feature today is the Abbot’s lodging which was built just before Henry VIII’s dissolution of the abbey in 1539. It survived as a home for the new owners. In addition, there is the 15th century parish church with its painted wagon roof and the Priest’s House (National Trust) which Pevsner described as “a rare and delightful survival, a small house of the 14-15 century with the internal arrangement just as in a large mansion”.
North and South Cadbury
The attractive village of North Cadbury, 11 miles north of Sherborne, is set amidst beautiful countryside. It has many charming stone built cottages, some thatched, the handsome Elizabethan Cadbury Court and a fine collegiate church which dates from 1427. The carved bench ends are a special feature of the church. South Cadbury. one and half miles to the south is known as the location of Cadbury Castle, the iron age hill fort reputedly King Arthur's "Camelot". It is said that on midsummer's eve the hill turns clear as glass and inside can be seen Arthur and his knights of the round table.
Norton-sub-Hamdon
Norton-sub- Hamdon, 15 miles west of Sherborne, lies at the foot of Ham Hill which provides the beautiful golden stone for the lovely church, manor and village houses that are such a feature of the Sherborne area. It is a picture book village with a stream running through it and a vista of yellow, mullion windowed Ham stone,thatched cottages and their gardens. The beautiful "Somerset Perpendicular" church of St Mary the Virgin is sometimes described as a miniature cathedral. It is mainly early 16th century, built on the site of an earlier Norman church of which the porch remains.
Queen Camel
Queen Camel is 8 miles north of Sherborne. The Queen was Margaret of France, second wife of Edward Ist, who made the manor of Camel part of the marriage settlement in 1299. It is an attractive village with a main street lined with mostly 17th C cottages built of blue lias stone. The 14th C church, reached from a cobbled lane, has a lofty tower containing a particularly fine ring of bells.
Yetminster
Yetminster is situated 5 miles south of Sherborne. This lovely Dorset village built almost entirely of honey coloured limestone, has a timeless and serene atmosphere. This comes partly from the age of its houses, many of which date back to the 17th C but also from its lack of major through traffic. Some buildings are the long houses from the days when families occupied one end of the building and farm animals the other. St Andrews Church was built in the 15th century and has a 300
year old faceless clock that chimes the national anthem six times a day,
World Heritage Sites of Wessex
These details were last updated on
26 AUG 2007
