May 672 A.D. Sherborne Abbey, Sherborne, Dorset, UK—Granted by Cenwealh, King of Wessex; Saxon-minster (Celtic Parish); Diocesan Cathedral Priory, 705
May 672 A.D. Sherborne Abbey, Sherborne, Dorset, UK—Granted by Cenwealh, King
of Wessex; Saxon-minster (Celtic Parish); Diocesan Cathedral Priory, 705; Cathedral Priory Refounded by Benedictine
Monks, 993; Transferred to Old Sarum,
1075; Raised to Abbey Status, 1172; Dissolved 18 Mar 1539; Granted to Sir John
Horsey, 1546; Church Now in Parochial
Use; Monastic Buildings Incorporated into a Public School; 123 Miles SW of
London, About 2000 as the Crow Flies; Due North of Weymouth
Sherborne Abbey
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Sherborne Abbey
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Sherborne Abbey
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History
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Administration
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Clergy
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The Revd Canon Eric Woods
The Revd Jonathan Triffitt |
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The Revd Graeme Hartley
The Revd Brenda Phillips |
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Laity
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Paul Ellis
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Peter Bray
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The Abbey Church of St Mary
the Virgin at Sherborne in the English county of Dorset, is usually called Sherborne Abbey. It has been a Saxon cathedral (705–1075), a Benedictine abbey (998–1539), and, now, a parish church.
Contents
History
Cathedral
There may have been a Celtic Christian church called 'Lanprobi' at the site, and Kenwalc or Cenwalh, King of the West Saxons is believed to be one of its
founders.[1]
When the Saxon Diocese of
Sherborne was founded in 705 by King Ine of Wessex, he set Aldhelm as first Bishop of the see of Western Wessex, with his seat at Sherborne. Aldhelm was the first of
twenty-seven Bishops of Sherborne.[1][2]
Abbey
The twentieth bishop was Wulfsige III (or St. Wulfsin). In 998 he established a
Benedictine abbey at Sherborne and became its first abbot. In 1075 the
bishopric of Sherborne was transferred to Old Sarum, so Sherborne remained an
abbey church but was no longer a cathedral. The bishop (in Old Sarum) remained
the nominal head of the abbey until 1122, when Roger de Caen, Bishop of Salisbury,
made the abbey independent.
Known Abbots include:
·
Wulfsige
III, 998; the first abbot and founder
·
Clemont,
c1165
·
John
Barnstaple, 1539
Parish church
The Benedictine foundation at
Sherborne ended in the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539, when the abbey was surrendered to King Henry VIII. Various
properties at Sherborne were bought from the king by Sir John Horsey who then sold the abbey to the people of Sherborne,
who bought the building to be their parish church (as people of many other
places did), which it still is. The original parish church alongside the abbey
was demolished, though the foundations are still visible. In 1550, King Edward VI issued a new charter to the school that had existed at Sherborne since 705,
and some of the remaining abbey buildings were turned over to it.
Architecture
The Abbey is a Grade I listed building.[5] It has several distinct architectural styles
throughout. Saxon features still remain in some parts of the Abbey, mainly around the Western
door. Roger of Caen demolished most of the Saxon church and replaced it
with a much larger, Norman style church.
The Lady Chapel and Bishop
Robert's Chapel were added in the 13th century in the Early English style, and in the 15th century, the choir section was rebuilt
in the Perpendicular style,
including the fan-vaulting Sherborne is still famous for, the remodelling by William Smyth, under Abbot John Brunyng (1415–1436). The vaulting is believed to have finished in 1490.[1]
During this renovation, a riot
in the town caused a fire that damaged much of the renovation,[2] causing delays. Traces of the fire's effects can
still be seen in the reddening of the walls under the Tower. The fire and its
effects also caused the design of the Nave to be altered. Some of the Nave's
pillars are Norman piers cased in Perpendicular panelling.[1]
St Katherine's Chapel, built
in the 14th century, but altered in the 15th, contains examples of early Renaissance classicism architecture [6]
Other features
Colours
The North Nave Aisle,
sometimes called the 'Trinitie' or 'Dark' Aisle (as it is overshadowed by the
adjoining Cloisters) contains several colours from the 2nd Battalion Dorsetshire Regiment and the Dorsetshire Militia. The South Nave Aisle
contains colours of the 1st Battalion Dorsetshire Regiment.[1]
Memorials and tombs
The North Choir Aisle contains
two tombs, believed to be the tombs of King Æthelbald of Wessex and his brother KingEthelbert of Wessex,
elder brothers to Alfred the Great.[1][7]
Inside the Wykeham chapel is
the tomb of Sir John Horsey and his son.
Horsey had bought the church after the Dissolution of the Monasteries and sold it to the townspeople. Also in the Chapel
is the plainly marked tomb of the poet Sir Thomas Wyatt.[8]
The South Transept contains an
impressive baroque memorial to John Digby, 3rd Earl of Bristol, made of marble and designed by John Nost.[9] Additionally there is a memorial to Robert and May
Digby.[1]
St Katherine's Chapel contains
the 16th century tomb of John Leweston and wife Joan.[6] The Chapel was where Sir Walter Raleigh and Lady Raleigh attended services.[1]
The North Aisle contains a
memorial to Abbot Clement (1163) and an effigy to an unknown Prior, while the
South Aisle contains an effigy of Abbot Lawrence of Bradford (1246).[1]
The Digby Memorial, situated
outside the Abbey, is a memorial to George Digby who provided a lot of funding
for renovation work during the 19th century. It was built in 1884 and features
statues of St Aldhelm, Bishop Roger of Salisbury (Roger de Caen), Abbot Bradford and Sir Walter Raleigh.[10]
Organ
The Abbey's organ, located in
the North Transept was installed in 1858 by Gray & Davison, and completely rebuilt in 1955 byJ. W. Walker & Sons Ltd, though that restoration's action failed by 1987 and had
to be replaced. The proposed scheme by Bishops supported by John Norman, Cecil
Clutton and Patrick Moule favoured returning the organ to its Gray &
Davison past but including a 'Chair' section instead of the Choir in order to
try to overcome the difficulties of the position of the organ was bold but
hardly in keeping historically and proved a to be musically and mechanically a
disaster and increasingly unreliable so that after no more than twenty years it
was necessary for the Organ to be rebuilt again in 2003/04 by Kenneth Tickell,
so thoroughly as to make it effectively a new instrument in the old case. An
additional nave organ was added, located under the West Window.[1][11]
List of organists
·
R.
Linter 1845 - ????
·
John
Hopkins Nunn 1852–1854 (later organist of St. Mary's Church, Penzance)
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Edward
Herbert 1860s? - 1872
·
Herbert
William Chuter 1900 - ca. 1903 (afterwards organist of Holy Trinity Church,
Cirencester)
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Julian
Dams c1970 – c2000
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John
Padley c2000 – c2004
·
Joseph
Sentance c2004 – c2007 (formerly organist of St Georges Minster, Doncaster
1995–2003)
·
Paul
Ellis c2007 – Present
Reredos
The Abbey has two reredos. The more recent is in the Lady Chapel, and was designed
by Laurence Whistler in 1969, and fashioned in glass.[22] The second, more substantial reredos was installed
in 1884 and designed by RH Carpenter.[23]
Windows
The Abbey contains a number of stained glass, including the South Transept's Te Deum window
designed by Pugin.[1][24]
The Great East Window was
designed by Clayton and Bell and installed in 1856–58. It features the Apostles Mark, Luke, Matthew and John, and Saints Sidwell and Juthware (Juthwara), who is featured in the Sherborne Missal.[25] The glass in the Southern Aisle commemorates Sherborne School For Girls' 1949 Jubilee.[1][26]
The Lady Chapel glass comes
from the 1930s, and depicts St Aldhelm presenting a model of his church to the
Patron.[24]
The Great West Window is the
newest of the major windows designed and made by John Hayward (1929-2007),
being installed in 1997 to replace a poor quality, faded, Pugin conceived
glass. The new glass depicts the Patron and the babyJesus, the Biblical Magi and the Shepherds, the Genesis story, the fall of
man and the Easter story.[27]
Misericords
The Abbey contains ten 15th
century misericords, situated 5 on each side of the choir. These
depict such things as the last judgement of Christ, and gurning.
Bells
The Abbey Tower contains the
heaviest ring of 8 church bells in the world with a tenor of 46cwt and
5 lbs (just over 2 and 1/4 tons).
Details of the bells
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Bell
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Weight
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Note
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Diameter
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Cast
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Founder
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1
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9-2-25
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B♭
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3' 0"
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1858
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Whitechapel
Bell Foundry
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2
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10-1-3
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A
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3' 2"
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1858
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Whitechapel
Bell Foundry
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3
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11-3-4
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G
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3' 4"
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1903
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John
Warner & Sons
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4
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12-1-6
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F
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3' 6"
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1803
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Thomas
& James Bilbie
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5
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16-3-3
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E♭
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3' 10
1/2"
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1787
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William
Bilbie
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6
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22-1-4
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D
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4' 2
1/2"
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1858
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Whitechapel
Bell Foundry
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7
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28-0-18
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C
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4' 7
3/4"
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1903
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John
Warner & Sons
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8
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46-0-5
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B♭
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5' 4"
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1934
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Whitechapel
Bell Foundry
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See also
References
1.
^ Jump up to:a b c d e f g h i j k l The Friends of Sherborne Abbey (May 1959). The Abbey Church of St. Mary the Virgin,
Sherborne(Paperback) (12 ed.). Sherborne United
Kingdom: Sawtells of Sherborne Ltd.
2.
^ Jump up to:a b G. Cyprian Alston (1913). "Sherborne Abbey". Catholic Encyclopaedia. Retrieved 2008-07-12.
5.
Jump up^ "Abbey Church of St Mary". The National Heritage List for England. English Heritage. Retrieved 4 September 2013.
External links
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