Sherborne Castle

Coordinates: 50°56′46″N 2°30′02″W / 50.9460°N 2.5006°W / 50.9460; -2.5006
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Sherborne Castle

Sherborne Castle (sometimes called Sherborne New Castle) is a 16th-century Tudor mansion southeast of Sherborne in Dorset, England, within the parish of Castleton. Originally built by Sir Walter Raleigh as Sherborne Lodge, and extended in the 1620s, it stands in a 1,200-acre (490 ha) park which formed a small part of the 15,000-acre (61 km2) Digby estate. Within the grounds lie the ruins of the 12th-century Sherborne Old Castle, now in the care of English Heritage.

Origins

The building now known as Sherborne Old Castle (50°56′58″N 2°30′09″W / 50.9494°N 2.5024°W / 50.9494; -2.5024 (Sherborne Old Castle)) was constructed in the 12th century as the fortified palace of

Chancellor of England. In the early 1140s, the castle was captured by Robert Earl of Gloucester during the Anarchy, when it was considered "the master-key of the whole kingdom".[1]

16th century

The ruins of Sherborne Old Castle

After passing through Sherborne on the way to

Queen Elizabeth relinquished the estate, leasing it to Raleigh in 1592.[2] Rather than refurbish the castle, Raleigh decided to build a new house for temporary visits. He completed Sherborne Lodge, a four-storey rectangular building, in 1594. The antiquary John Aubrey described the building as "a delicate Lodge in the park, of Brick, not big, but very convenient for its bignes, a place to retire from the Court in summer time, and to contemplate, etc."[3] It had four polygonal corner turrets with angled masonry as if they were to serve for military defence, which Nicholas Cooper suggests "may be an obeisance to the old building".[4]
Its most progressive feature for its date was the entrance, disguised in one of the corner towers so as not to spoil the apparent symmetry of the facade, which was centred on a rectangular forecourt. The entrance vestibule also contained a winder stairwell and gave directly onto the hall.

17th century

During Raleigh's imprisonment in the

King James leased the estate to Robert Carr and then sold it to Sir John Digby, 1st Earl of Bristol in 1617. In the 1620s, the Digby family added four wings to Sherborne Lodge in an architectural
style similar to the original, forming the mansion now known as Sherborne Castle or Sherborne New Castle.

slighted in October 1645 and left in ruins.[5]

18th to 20th centuries

Capability Brown's lake in Digby's garden

Through the early and mid-18th century

King George III visited the house and gardens in 1789, shortly before granting Henry Digby a peerage. When Edward, 2nd and last Earl Digby, died in 1856 the estate was passed to the Wingfield Digby family, who still own the property. The mansion was modernised by the architect Philip Charles Hardwick
.

In the

Second World War as the headquarters for the commandos involved in the D-Day
landings.

Listings

Both the mansion and the ruins of the old castle were designated as Grade I listed in 1951.[9][10] Three outbuildings of the mansion, built in ashlar and stone, are Grade II* listed: the stables (1759, extended early 19th century);[11] the greenhouse (c. 1779);[12] and the dairy (late 18th century).[13]

The gardens are Grade I listed in the

National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.[14]

Today

The gardens are open to the public for much of the year, and the mansion is open to the public most Saturdays. The estate often hosts special events, such as concerts and fireworks displays. The old castle is leased by English Heritage and is accessed separately from the rest of the estate.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ King, Edmund. “The Anarchy of King Stephen's Reign.” Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, vol. 34, 1984, pp. 133–153, 134. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3679129. Accessed 2 May 2020.
  2. ^ Waymark 2001:65.
  3. ^ Aubrey, Brief Lives, "Sir Walter Raleigh, quoted by Nicholas Cooper, Houses of the Gentry 1480-1680, 1999:121.
  4. ^ Nicholas Cooper 1999:121; the contemporary plan by Simon Basil, pl. 22, shows with dashed lines that the angle faces of the corner towers were aligned with the opposite inner corners.
  5. ^ a b "Sherborne & the English Civil War". The Old Shirburnian Society. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
  6. ^ Plant, David. "The New Model Army in the West, 1645". BCW Project. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
  7. ^ Though Lord Digby was sufficiently accomplished in architectural matters to rate an entry in Howard Colvin, A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects (3rd ed., 1995, s.v. "Digby, William, 5th Lord Digby") he left no mark at Sherborne.
  8. ^ Waymark 2001. A new library, in Gothick taste, was carried out by the London surveyor William Ride in 1757-58, possibly to Ride's designs (Colvin 1995, s.v. "Ride, William").
  9. ^ Historic England. "Sherborne Castle (1153912)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
  10. ^ Historic England. "Sherborne Old Castle (1119378)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
  11. ^ Historic England. "Stable Block and Coach Houses (1119380)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
  12. ^ Historic England. "Greenhouse (1323883)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
  13. ^ Historic England. "Dairy (1153919)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
  14. ^ Historic England. "Sherborne Castle (1000454)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 11 February 2016.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sherborne Castle.

50°56′46″N 2°30′02″W / 50.9460°N 2.5006°W / 50.9460; -2.5006

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