SHERBORNE, a market town of Dorsetshire, England, 118 m. W.S.W. from London by the S.R. Pop. of urban district (1931), 6,542. It lies near the border of Somersetshire, on the southern slope of a hill overlooking the river Yeo, in a fertile, well-wooded district.
There is no evidence of Roman or British settlement, and it is probable that Sherborne (Scireburn, Shireburne) grew up after the Saxon conquest of the region in the middle of the 7th century. It is first mentioned in 705 as the place where St. Aldhelm fixed his bishop-stool for the new diocese of Western Wessex. Freedom from Danish attacks at the end of the 9th century was a factor in making Sherborne the capital of Wessex. In 978 Bishop Wulf sey introduced the stricter form of Benedictine rule into his cathedral of Sherborne, and became the first abbot. The see, which was united with that of Ramsbury in 1058, was removed to Old Sarum in 1075. On the separation of the offices of bishop and abbot in 1122, the abbot's fee was carved out of the bishop's manor, but did not include the town. Bishop Roger of Caen (1107-1139) built the castle. Its strength made Stephen force Bishop Roger to surrender it in 1139; it fell afterwards into the hands of Maud. It was later granted to the earls of Salisbury, who seem to have allowed it to fall into disrepair, for in 1315 and in 1319 the abbot of Sherborne was appointed to inquire into its condition. It was recovered by the bishop in 1355, and retained by the see until granted in 1599 to Elizabeth, who gave it to Sir Walter Raleigh.
The town suffered very severely during the civil wars, the castle being besieged by the parliamentary forces in 1642 and Fairs held on the 8th of May, the 26th of July and the first Monday after the loth of October were granted to the bishop in 1227, 124o and 130o. The abbey church of St. Mary the Virgin is a cruciform building with central tower, the nave and choir having aisles and clerestory. Some pre-Norman work appears in the western wall, the tower arches and south porch are Norman, and there are an Early English chapel and some Decorated win dows. The church, however, was almost wholly reconstructed in the Perpendicular period, and is a fine example of that style. The colour-decoration in the choir, and the stone-vaulted roof with fan tracery are very fine. The almshouse known as the hospital of St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist was founded in 1437 on the site of an earlier establishment, and retains a Perpendicular chapel, hall and other portions. Of the old castle, the gatehouse and other parts are of Norman construction, but the mansion near it was built by Sir Walter Raleigh.
After the decline of the mediaeval trade in cloth, lace and but tons were the only articles manufactured here until the introduc tion of silk-weaving in 1740. The town is now the centre of an agricultural region.