Sherborne Abbey

Sherborne Abbey stands in the centre of Sherborne, a small town in Dorset. Built of honey-brown hamstone, it began as a Saxon cathedral in 705 and became a Benedictine abbey in 998. After the Dissolution it became a Church of England parish church. The abbey is one of only eighteen churches in England to receive five stars in Simon Jenkins’s 1999 guide. The abbey’s long history is visible in its architecture. Saxon fragments remain in the west wall and a doorway from about 1050. Norman work includes the crossing, transepts and parts of the nave. The Perpendicular rebuilding added fan-vaulting by William Smyth and the great west window. A fire in 1437 turned parts of the stone pink and altered the nave design. Inside, the abbey shows layers from every century. The Lady Chapel was rebuilt in Gothic style in 1934 on medieval foundations. The choir stalls, chapel arches and surviving Roman mosaic beneath the floor tell the story of continuous worship. The hamstone walls and vaulted ceilings create a quiet space at the heart of the town.