‘Lector si monumentum requiris circumspice’ (‘Reader, if you seek his monument, look around you’) – the epitaph on the tomb of Sir Christopher Wren in St Paul’s Cathedral can also apply to the architects of Sherborne – School and town. Built using Sherborne Inferior Oolite and Hamstone, the buildings of Sherborne blend together, even though they may have been built centuries apart.
The following list of buildings and their architects is arranged alphabetically by the date of construction. The list is very much a work in progress and it is hoped that more details, particularly with regard to the names of architects, will be added as they are discovered.
See also:
Sherborne School and its Buildings
Further reading:
- J.H.P. Gibb, The Monastic Buildings of the Benedictine Abbey of Sherborne c.1530 (Sherborne, 1998)
- J.H.P. Gibb, Sketches of Sherborne School (Sherborne, 1997)
- A.B. Gourlay, A History of Sherborne School (Sherborne, Sawtells Ltd., 1971)
- Michael Hill, John Newman & Nikolaus Pevsner, The Buildings of England: Dorset (Yale University Press, 2018)
For further information about the Sherborne School Archives please contact the School Archivist
| BUILDING | ARCHITECT | DATE |
|---|---|---|
| Almshouse of St John Baptist & St John the Evangelist | Robert Hulle | 1438 |
| Sherborne School: School room (Old School Room/OSR) | ? Inigo Jones (1573-1652) | 1606 |
| St Mary Magdalene church, Castleton | ? William, 5th Lord Digby (1661-1752) | 1715 |
| Sherborne House, Newland | ? Sir James Thornhill (1675-1734) | c.1720 |
| Sherborne Castle: Dairy | ? Capability Brown (1716-1783) | 1753-55 |
| Sherborne Castle: formal landscaping | Capability Brown (1716-1783) | 1753, 1774-78 |
| Sherborne Castle: stables | Benjamin Bastard (1698-1772) | 1758-59 |
| Sherborne Castle: Pinford Bridge | Captain the Hon. Robert Digby | 1769-70 |
| Sherborne Castle: Orangery | ? Henry Holland (1746-1806) | 1779 |
| Sherborne Castle: Pope's Seat | ? Henry Holland (1746-1806) | 1780 |
| The Cedars, Long Street | Evan Owen | c.1789 |
| Congregational Chapel (Union Chapel), Long Street | 1804 | |
| Abbey Grange, Hospital Lane: conversion (for James Ridout the Elder) | 1827 | |
| Sherborne Workhouse, Horsecastles | Edward Thomas Percy (1793-1848) of Sherborne | 1836-37 |
| Gospel Hall (Providence Hall), Finger Lane | 1838 | |
| Wesleyan Methodist Church, Cheap Street | 1841-42 | |
| Abbey Church: restoration of nave & transepts | Richard Cromwell Carpenter (1812-1855) | 1849-51 |
| Congregational School Room, Long Street | Robert Howard Shout (1823-1882) | 1852 |
| Sherborne School: Gateway to the Courts (rebuilt in 1923 at the entrance to the Upper on Horsecastles) and Custos Lodge | ? Richard Cromwell Carpenter (1812-1855) | 1852-53 |
| Sherborne School: Digby Buildings (now the Library and Chapel) - partial rebuilding and restoration/conversion of former monastic buildings into schoolroom and chapel | Richard Cromwell Carpenter (1812-1855) | 1855 |
| Abbey Church: restoration of choir | William Slater (1819-1872) | 1856-58 |
| Sherborne Castle: entrance gates, railings and lodge | Philip Charles Hardwick (1822–1892) | 1857-59 |
| Abbey School (National School), Horsecastles | Henry Hall of Duke Street, Adelphi | 1857 |
| Abbey House, Abbey Road: alterations | William Haggett (1808-1887) of Sherborne | 1857 |
| Almshouse of St John Baptist & St John the Evangelist: extension (east wing) | William Slater (1819-1872) | 1858 |
| Railway Station, Station Road | ? Mr Fraser | 1860 |
| Sherborne School: School House | William Slater (1819-1872) | 1860-61 |
| St Cuthbert's church, Oborne | William Slater (1819-1872) | 1861-62 |
| Sherborne Cemetery: Digby Mausoleum | William Slater (1819-1872) | 1862-77 |
| St Mary Magdalene church, Castleton: restoration | William Slater (1819-1872) | 1863 |
| Sherborne School: School chapel extension (west) | William Slater (1819-1872) & Richard Herbert Carpenter (1841-1893) | 1865 |
| Greenhill House (The Green): alterations & extension | Robert Howard Shout (1823-1882 | 1865 |
| Yeatman Hospital | William Slater (1819-1872) & Richard Herbert Carpenter (1841-1893) | 1866 |
| The Digby Hotel, Digby Road | William Slater (1819-1872) & Richard Herbert Carpenter (1841-1893) | 1869 |
| Sherborne School: south-west schoolrooms (English block) | William Slater (1819-1872) & Richard Herbert Carpenter (1841-1893) | 1870 |
| Wesleyan Schoolrooms, Abbey Road (now the Powell theatre) | Alexander Lauder of Barnstaple | 1872 |
| Sherborne School: conversion of the Abbey Mills buildings to laboratories, music room, museum & workshops (now the Carrington Buildings, Westcott Art School & Devitt Court) | Richard Herbert Carpenter (1841-1893) | 1873 |
| Foster's School, Hound Street | William Slater (1819-1872) & Richard Herbert Carpenter (1841-1898) | 1875 |
| Sherborne School: Big School Room (BSR), north aisle of the chapel and cloister underneath | Richard Herbert Carpenter (1841-1893) & Benjamin Ingelow (1835-1926) | 1877-79 |
| Sherborne School: West cloister & lavatories | Richard Herbert Carpenter (1841-1893) & Benjamin Ingelow (1835-1926) | 1880 |
| Sherborne School: School chapel north chancel aisle | Richard Herbert Carpenter (1841-1893) & Benjamin Ingelow | 1881 |
| Sherborne School: classrooms in the north-west corner of the Courts & the lobby of the Big School Room (BSR) | Richard Herbert Carpenter (1841-1893) & Benjamin Ingelow (1835-1926) | 1883 |
| Abbey Church: tower restoration | Richard Herbert Carpenter (1841-1893) | 1884 |
| Digby Memorial, Abbey Close | Richard Herbert Carpenter (1841-1893) & Benjamin Ingelow (1835-1926) | 1884 |
| Sherborne School: School House extension | Richard Herbert Carpenter (1841-1893) | 1884-86 |
| Maperty, Westbury (built by W.B. Wildman as a School boarding house, now St Antony's School House) | 1884-85 | |
| Acreman House, Sherborne Preparatory School | Messrs. Farrall & Edmunds of Sherborne | 1885 |
| Sherborne School: Old School Room (OSR) restoration | Richard Herbert Carpenter (1841-1893) | 1886 |
| Sherborne School: Sanatorium, Acreman Street | Keith Downes Young (1848-1929) | 1887 |
| Sherborne School: Abbey House, Abbey Road, addition to west wing | Richard Herbert Carpenter (1841-1893) & Benjamin Ingelow (1835-1926) | 1887 |
| Foster's School, House Street: boarding house | Farrall & Edmunds | 1887 |
| Sacred Heart & St Aldhelm RC church, Westbury | Alexander Joseph Cory Scoles (1844-1920) | 1893-94 |
| Sherborne School: Big School Room (BSR) panelling & interior decoration | Sir Reginald Blomfield (1856-1942) | 1894 |
| Almshouse of St John Baptist & St John the Evangelist: Saints John Building (home for church workers & a hall for the Young Men's Society) | Richard Herbert Carpenter (1841-1893) | 1894 |
| The Wilderness, St Swithin's Road (built for W.H. Baxter) | Ernest Flint (1849-1923), 80, Coleman Street, London] | 1895-96 |
| Abbey Church: pulpit | Benjamin Ingelow (1835-1926) | 1899 |
| Sherborne School: School House extension to Headmaster's study | Benjamin Ingelow (1835-1926) | 1899 |
| Sherborne School for Girls | John Harding & Son; William Douglas Caröe (1857-1938) | 1902-1910 |
| Digby Memorial Church Hall, Digby Road | Charles Bernard Benson of Yeovil | 1909-10 |
| Sherborne School: Carrington Buildings & Westcott Art School | Sir Reginald Blomfield (1856-1942) | 1910 |
| Sherborne School: Lyon House, Richmond Road | 1911 | |
| Wharton, Acreman Street (built for C.H. Hodgson) | 1912 | |
| County Primary School, Simons Road | 1912 | |
| Yeatman Hospital: Warleigh Wing | Sir Edward Maufe (1883-1974) | 1913 |
| Sherborne School: classrooms in the north range of the Courts | Sir Reginald Blomfield (1856-1942) | 1913 |
| Sherborne School: addition of clock tower to the pavilion on the Upper | Robert Alexander Briggs (OS) (1858-1916) | 1913 |
| Sherborne School: Cricket Lodge, Westbury | ? C.B. Benson of Yeovil | 1913 |
| Abbey Grange, Hospital Lane: alterations & extensions (for Geoffrey O'Hanlon) | William Douglas Caröe (1857-1938) | 1913-14 |
| Sherborne School: Bow House, the Parade - conversion for school use | R.G. Spiller of Sherborne | 1920-21 |
| Abbey Church: Lady Chapel, Chapel of St Mary Le Bow, & vestry restored as a war memorial | William Douglas Caröe (1857-1938) | 1921-33 |
| Sherborne School: Devitt Workshop (in memory of Arthur Devitt OS 1867-1921) | Sir Reginald Blomfield (1856-1942) | 1921 |
| Sherborne School: School chapel war memorial staircase & ante-chapel | Sir Reginald Blomfield (1856-1942) | 1922 |
| Sherborne school: Gatetower entrance to the Courts | Sir Reginald Blomfield (1856-1942) | 1923 |
| Sherborne School: Gymnasium (now the Dining Hall) extension | Sir Reginald Blomfield (1856-1942) | 1923 |
| Sherborne School: Abbeylands, Cheap Street - private side enlarged to incorporate neighbouring premises & 16th century timber frontage exposed | 1923-25 | |
| The Quarry House, The Avenue | Albert Reginald Powys (OS) (1881-1936) | 1924 |
| Sherborne School: School chapel - panelling in nave & north aisle (in memory of Arthur Devitt OS 1867-1921) | Sir Reginald Blomfield (1856-1942) | 1925 |
| Sherborne School for Girls: tower, science wing, Aldhelmstead East | William Douglas Caröe (1857-1938) & Sir Reginald Blomfield ARA (1856-1942) | 1925-26 |
| Sherborne School: Music School, Hospital Lane (now the Drama School) | Sir Reginald Blomfield (1856-1942) | 1926 |
| Sherborne School: Sanatorium, Acreman Street - addition of east wing (memorial to Headmaster Nowell Smith) | W. Spiller, Riverside Works, Sherborne | 1929 |
| Post Office, Cheap Street | Archibald Bulloch | c.1930 |
| Sherborne House, Newland: conversion to Lord Digby’s School | H.E. Matthews, County Architect | 1930 |
| Sherborne School: Elmdene, South Street (now Wallace House) - extension wing | 1931 | |
| Abbey Grange, Hospital Lane: extension (for Geoffrey O’Hanlon) | William Douglas Caröe (1857-1938) and Herbert Passmore (1867-1966) | 1936 |
| Sherborne School: Biology Laboratory (now print room), Carrington Building | Arnold Mitchell (1863-1944) | 1937 |
| Sherborne School: Abbeylands - alterations | ? Walter Hughes of Yeovil | 1937 |
| Sherborne School: Sanatorium, Acreman Street - addition of north wing | 1937 | |
| Sherborne School: Abbey House - alterations to kitchen quarters | Petter, Warren & Roydon Cooper | 1937 |
| Foster's School, Tinney's Lane (demolished 1994) | E.G. Wilkins of Marnhull | 1939 |
| Sherborne School: Lyon House war memorial | Oswald Brakspear (OS) (1912-1999) & Rowland de Winton Aldridge (OS) (1906-1997) | 1945-47 |
| Sherborne School: School chapel - addition of names of WW2 casualties on walls of ante-chapel | Oswald Brakspear (OS) (1912-1999) | 1947 |
| Sherborne School: Sanatorium, Acreman Street - addition of nurses' quarters above east wing | 1948 | |
| Sherborne School: Abbot's Acre, Hospital Lane (former Headmaster's house) | 1950 | |
| Sherborne School: Nowell Cottage, Acreman Street - Bensly memorial plaque | Oswald Brakspear (OS) (1912-1999) | 1951 |
| Sherborne School: Medlycott Building (history department) | Oswald Brakspear (OS) (1912-1999) & Rowland de Winton Aldridge (OS) (1906-1997) | 1955 |
| Sherborne School: Big School Room (BSR) extension & reconfiguration to form WW2 memorial | Oswald Brakspear (OS) (1912-1999) & Rowland de Winton Aldridge (OS) (1906-1997) | 1955-56 |
| Sherborne School: Biology Laboratory (Alan Turing laboriatories) - single storey building | Rowland de Winton Aldridge (OS) (1906-1997) | 1956-58 |
| Sherborne School: Abbey House studies | William Douglas Caröe (1857-1938) and Herbert Passmore (1867-1966) | 1958 |
| St Aldhelm's Modern School | Petter, Warren & Royden Cooper | 1959 |
| Sherborne School: Lower Library | Oswald Brakspear (OS) (1912-1999) | 1959-61 |
| Proposed new boarding house in the garden of Greenhill House (now The Green) | Green, Lloyd & Son, St James Street, Westminster | 1961-62 |
| Sherborne School: The Digby, Digby Road - conversion & addition of dormitory block & housemaster's house | ? Mr Lloyd | 1963-64 |
| Sherborne School: Biology Laboratory (Alan Turing laboratories) - addition of second storey | 1966 | |
| Sherborne School: The Slype restoration | Oswald Brakspear (OS) (1912-1999) | 1967-77 |
| Sherborne School: Wallace House, South Street - extension | 1967 | |
| Sherborne School: Classroom no.18 (now the Beckett Room) - converted to Muniment Room | 1967-69 | |
| Sherborne School: Bow House, the Parade - restoration | Oswald Brakspear (OS) (1912-1999) | 1971-74 |
| Digby Hall, Hound Street | J.R. Hurst, County Architect | 1972 |
| Library, Hound Street | Fred Pitfield | 1972 |
| Sherborne School: Medway buildings (next to The Grove) | 1973 | |
| Sherborne School: Lyon House, Richmond Road - addition of ten studies above the Sweathouse | Robin Butterell of Wells | 1974 |
| Sherborne School: Dining Hall (formerly the gymansium) - converted to form central dining hall | 1975 | |
| Sherborne School: Sports Centre | 1975-76 | |
| Sherborne School: Undercroft converted to form part of School library | Various including Clayton, Black & Daniel, and Timothy MacBean | c.1981 |
| Sherborne School: Wallace House, South Street - extensions & alterations | Timothy MacBean | 1981-92 |
| Sherborne School: Powell Theatre, Abbey Road (former Methodist Schoolroom) - conversion & extension to form theatre | Timothy MacBean | 1982-83 |
| Sherborne School: The Hub/JCR/The Stick, & Careers Department | Timothy MacBean | 1987 |
| Sherborne School: The Grove (modern language classrooms) | Timothy MacBean | 1990 |
| Sherborne School: Abbey Grange, Hospital Lane - extension & alterations | Timothy MacBean | 1988 |
| Sherborne School: Old School Room (OSR) restoration & alterations | Timothy MacBean | 1990 |
| Sherborne School: International Study Centre, Newell Grange - alterations & extensions | Timothy MacBean | 1990-91 |
| Sherborne School: The 'new' Green (formerly Greenhill House) - alterations & extensions | Nichols Brown Webber LLP | 1999 |
| Sherborne School: Westcott House, Horsecastles - Mowatt extension | ? 1999 | |
| Sherborne School: Pavilion on the Upper - extension | Timothy MacBean | 2000 |
| Sherborne School: Harper House, Hound Street - extensions | Various including Timothy MacBean & Nichols Brown Webber LLP | 1988, 2013 |
| Sherborne School: Pilkington Laboratories, Acreman Street (named in memory of Sir Alistair Pilkington OS 1920-1995) | Hopkins Architects (Sir Michael Hopkins OS) | 2000 |
| Sherborne School: Harper House, Hound Street - extension & alterations | Nichols Brown Webber LLP | 2005-09 |
| Sherborne School: New Music School | ORMS Architects | 2008-10 |
| Sherborne School Sports Centre extension and redevelopment | Walters & Cohen Architects | 2021-23 |
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