SHERBORNE, a market-town and parish in the
hundred of SHERBORNE, Sherborne division of the
county of DORSET, 18 miles (N. by W.) from Dorchester,
and 120 (W. S. W.) from London, containing 3622
inhabitants. This place, though of remote antiquity,
does not appear to have emerged from comparative inj
significance until the Saxon era: the name, anciently
written Schiraburn, Schireburn, and Scyreburn, and of
which its present appellation is a corruption, is derived
from the Saxon words Scire clear, and Burn a spring, or
fountain, and was usually written in old Latin records
Fans clarus. In 670, a house was founded here for Secular
canons, by Cenwalh, King of the West Saxons, and
others; and in the year 704, Sherborne was made the
head of an episcopal see, which included the counties
of Dorset, Somerset, Wilts, Devon, and Cornwall,
by Ina, of which his kinsman, Aldhelm, was the first
bishop. About 998, the Secular canons were displaced,
and a society of Benedictines, established under license
from Ethelred, by Wlffin, bishop of this see,
who also rebuilt the monastery, and dedicated it to
St. Mary, which institution became richly endowed,
and at the dissolution its revenue was valued at
£ 682. 14. 7.: the only remains of the convent are the
cloister, the abbey barn, and the ancient refectory, now
used as a silk manufactory. It is evident that a castle
was built here at a very early period, but the founder,
and the time of its. erection and demolition, are unknown.
Previously to the time of Henry I., however,
another had succeeded it, which was built by Roger,
the third Bishop "of Salisbury, and became an episcopal
palace; it was an octagonal structure, situated on a hill
eastward of the town, and fortified by a moat and several
drawbridges; having been seized by Stephen, it remained
in the possession of the crown for some time, but
about 1350 was recovered by Bishop Wyvil, and reverted
to the bishoprick. During the civil war in the reign
of Charles, it was garrisoned in the royal interest, and
although gallantly defended and one of the last that
yielded, it was eventually taken by the parliamentary
forces under the command of Fairfax, and was demolished
in 1645. Considerable portions of the ruins are
remaining: the present mansion, called Sherborne castle,
the seat of the Earl of D" igby, was built by Sir Walter
Raleigh. About. 1103 Sherborne is stated to have been
burnt by a detachment of the Danish invaders, and the
entire destruction of the town and its ecclesiastical buildings,
although doubtful, is a matter of great probability.
The see continued for nearly three centuries, when it
was removed first to Wilton, afterwards to Old Sarum,
and finally to New Sarum, or Salisbury; this event
contributed much to depress the prosperity of Sherborne,
and for a long period afterwards it was in comparative
obscurity. The town is situated principally on
the side of a hill near the border of the White Hart
Forest, and the vale of Blackmore, and is divided by
a small stream into two parts, of which one is called
Castle Town; it is well paved by a rate on the inhabitants,
lighted by subscription, and amply supplied with
excellent water. The woollen trade, which formerly
flourished, was succeeded by the makiag of buttons, haberda.
shery, and lace: in 1740 the first silk-mill was
erected, and the various branches of this manufacture,
especially the making of silk twist and buttons, afford
employment to a great number of the working class.
Markets are held on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday;
and fairs on May 22nd, July 18th and 26th, and the
first Monday after the 10th of October. The town is
within the jurisdiction of the county magistrates; and
formerly a court for the recovery of debts under 40s.
was held by the steward of the hundred, but has been
for some years discontinued.
The living is a vicarage, in the peculiar jurisdiction
of the Dean of Salisbury, rated in the king's books at
£20. 4. 7., and in the patronage of the Crown. The
church, anciently the cathedral of the bishops of Sherborne,
and originally erected by Bishop Aldhelm, stands
south of the town, and is dedicated to St. Mary; it was
partially destroyed by fire in the reign of Henry VI.,
and having been rebuilt by the abbots during the three
succeeding reigns, it consequently exhibits specimens of
different styles of architecture; the semicircular arches
and zigzag mouldings in the porch, transept, wast end,
and north side of the building, are Norman, while the
upper part of the nave, the tower, east end, aisles, and
some of the chapels, are in the later style of English
architecture; the roof is supported by groins springing
from the aisles, and at the intersection of the tracery
is a variety of arms and emblematical devices. It is
a cruciform structure of freestone, with a tower rising
from the intersection, one hundred and fifty-four feet
high, and containing six bells, the largest of which,
weighing more than three tons, was the gift of Cardinal
Wolsey, and is considered the largest bell ever rung in a
peal. The Saxon Icings, Ethelbald and Ethelbert, and many
Saxon nobles, bishops and abbots, have been interred
here: the church contains some very ancient monuments;
it has been enlarged with one hundred free sitings,
towards which the Incorporated Society for the
building and enlargement of churches and chapels contributed
£50. There are places of worship for the
Society of Friends, Independents, and Wesleyan Methodists.
The free grammar school was founded by Edward
VI., who endowed it with property belonging to
the several chantries in the churches of Gillingham,
Lychett-Matravers, and Marnhull, in the county of Dorset
and of Martock, in the county of Somerset; producing
an income of £ 1200 per annum, and placed it
under the government of twenty of the inhabitants,
whom he incorporated, and appointed the Bishop of
Bristol special visitor; the masters are required to be
clergymen and graduates in one of the Universities.
There are four exhibitions of £60 per annum each to
either of the Universities, tenable for four years by boys
on the foundation only, of whom the present number is
fifty: the school is in high repute, and, in addition to
the scholars on the foundation, there are sixty private
boarders, under the care of the masters. One of the
principal benefactors to this town was Mr. Benjamin
Vowell, who by will gave the dividends of £1000 three
per cent, consols., to be annually distributed in clothing,
besides two sums of £300, and one of £400, to various
benefit societies; he was also a liberal contributor to
the funds of the British and Foreign Bible Society, and
the Church and London Missionary Societies. The Bluecoat
school was founded, in 1640, by Richard Foster, "who
gave land for the instruction of ten boys and ten girls,
directing £5 per annum from the surplus rents to be
applied towards maintaining one, of the boys at the University,
if required. A charity school for boys was
founded, in 1717, by John Woodman, who gave £250
to the vicar and churchwardens, for the instruction of
poor boys, which sum was vested in land for that
purpose. In 1743, William, Lord Digby, gave land for
teaching and clothing thirteen poor girls. The churchwardens
and overseers have the right of sending three
boys to Christchurch Hospital, in London, for whose
support Giles Russel gave lands, in 1670. A National
school, in which one hundred and twenty boys are
taught 5 and a Lancasterian school, in which sixty boys
and girls receive instruction, are supported by subscription.
The almshouse, originally an hospital of the
order of St. Augustine, was, by license from Henry VI.,
refounded and dedicated to St. John the Baptist and
St. John the Evangelist, for twenty brethren, twelve
poor men, four poor women, and a chaplain; and was
governed by a master and trustees: it now contains
sixteen men and eight women, under the superintendence
of a master and nineteen brethren, elected from among
the inhabitants of the town; a chaplain officiates daily.
There is a very considerable fund for the relief of the
poor, arising from land and houses given for that purpose,
in 1448, by Robert Neville, Bishop of Sarum, and others;
also a small sum for apprenticing poor children, given
by Agnes Broughton, in 1633, under the management
of the trustees of the almshouse.