Bob Marshall

Although there was probably an earlier Celtic church on the site Aldhelm is celebrated as the founder of the Christian Church in Sherborne in 705 AD. Founded as a cathedral it became an Abbey in 1075 before finally becoming the parish church of Sherborne with the dissolution of the monasteries.  For many it is still the ‘cathedral of Dorset’ and the Benedictine heritage lives on in the daily offering of prayer and praise.

When people look at the Abbey, they see different things. Some see the finest building in Dorset, with its glorious fan vaulting – of which Simon Jenkins says in his book England’s Thousand Best Churches, “I would pit Sherborne’s roof against any contemporary work of the Italian Renaissance.” Others see a place renowned for its choir and its music and its bells – the heaviest peal of eight bells in the world. Some see thirteen centuries of history.

In addition to the roof there are many other fine features from the Whistler reredos in the Lady Chapel, the high altar reredos in Caen stone by Richard Carpenter, the great West Window by John Hayward installed in 1997 and dedicated by HM The Queen, mediaeval misericords, ancient stone coffins said to contain the bones of Ethelbald and Elthelbert, kings of Wessex  and brothers of Alfred the Great, the Grey and Davidson organ, rebuilt by Kenneth Tickell and Co in 2005 , who added the west end section, tombs of the local gentry and much more.

Although there is much to see it is not a museum.  It is a living, working and growing place of worship and ministry, often filled with music and with any people, young and old, attending services and events.  Prayers are said and sung daily.

The name “Sherborne Castle” was then applied to the new house, though today the term Sherborne New Castle is generally used to refer to it, in the same manner as “Sherborne Old Castle” is used for the ruins.

Through the early and mid-18th century William, 5th Lord Digby,^[7] who laid out the grounds praised by Alexander Pope, and his heirs Edward, 6th Lord Digby, who inherited in 1752, and Henry, 7th Lord, created Earl Digby, laid out the present castle gardens. Features include the 1753 lake designed by Capability Brown, which separates the old and new castles.^[8] The ruins of the old castle are part of the gardens, being conspicuous amongst the trees across the lake. King George III visited the house and gardens in 1789, shortly before awarding Henry Digby with a peerage. When Edward, 2nd and last Earl Digby, died in 1856 the house was passed to the Wingfield Digby family, who still own the house. The house was modernised by the architect Philip Charles Hardwick.

In the First World War the house was used by the Red Cross as a hospital and in the Second World War as the headquarters for the commandos involved in the D-Day landings.

Sherborne Old Castle is a romantic 12th-century ruin set in beautiful grounds next to New Sherborne Castle.

After withstanding two sieges during the Civil War, only the Southwest Gatehouse and parts of the castle, including the Great Tower and the North Range, now survive. Loved by Sir Walter Ralegh, he leased the castle but when he was imprisoned in the Tower of London for marrying one of Queen Elizabeth I’s maids of honour without her permission, it was then leased out but remained a favourite home of the famous explorer.

The castle grounds are a haven for wildlife and birds and it is an ideal spot for a picnic where you can take in the beautiful views across the surrounding countryside. Keep an eye out for ‘Lady Betty’s Pinks’ during July and August, named after Sir Walter Ralegh’s wife, Elizabeth, flowering throughout the grounds.

The Parish Church of St Peter and St Paul is situated next to Muchelney Abbey so we took the opportunity to visit after exploring the Abbey. As we entered we were surprised to see a groom with his best man and ushers and noticed that the church was all decked out ready for a wedding. They were just about to leave so were able to spend a few minutes to enjoying the features of the church without disrupting their preparations.

The Church of St Peter and St Paul in Muchelney, Somerset, England has Saxon origins, however the current building largely dates from the 15th century. It has been designated as a Grade I listed building.^[1]

The church, which is adjacent to the site of Muchelney Abbey and close to the River Parrett, has a ceiling enlivened with Jacobean paintings of bare-breasted angels, their nudity thought to symbolize innocent purity.^[1] They were painted in the early 17th century.^[2]

The church also contains a barrel organ built by Gray and Davison and installed around 1835 to 1840. It is the last one known to be still in the church where it was first installed and still in working order.^[3]

There is a three-bay aisled nave and a chancel with a short chapel on either side.^[4]

It has a three-stage Somerset tower, dating from around 1468,^[5] supported by pairs of full-height corner buttresses. The south-east octagonal stair turret leads to an outer door.^[1]

Muchelney Abbey is an English Heritage property in the village of Muchelney in the Somerset Levels, England. The site consists of ruined walls showing the layout of the abbey buildings constructed from the 7th to 16th and the remaining intact Abbott’s House. It is next to the parish church in which some of the fabric of the abbey has been reused.

It comprises the remains and foundations of a medieval Benedictine abbey, the site of an earlier Anglo-Saxon abbey, and an early Tudor house dating from the 16th century, formerly the lodgings of the resident Abbot, which is now a Grade I listed building.^[1] The ruins of the abbey have been scheduled as an ancient monument.^[2][3]

The abbey was founded in the 7th or 8th century, damaged by Viking raids and rebuilt and refounded in the 10th century. It owned and managed local land. The buildings were expanded from the 12th to 16th centuries until its dissolution in 1538. Most of the buildings were demolished and the stone used in local buildings, although the Abbot’s House and reredorter survive. Some of the tiles and other decorative features from the monastic church were reused in the adjacent parish Church of St Peter and St Paul. Since 1927 the ruins have been in public ownership.

On my first visit to Berkeley Castle in 2019 I visited the adjacent museum that was formerly Dr Jenner’s house. The museum displays explain  how he became the pioneer of vaccinations.  He experimented with the mild disease of cowpox leading him to find way to counteract the devastating disease of Smallpox.

The smallpox vaccine, created by Edward Jenner in 1796, was the first successful vaccine to be developed. He observed that milkmaids who previously had caught cowpox did not catch smallpox and showed that a similar inoculation could be used to prevent smallpox in other people.

In 1798, Edward Jenner published one of the most important documents in the history of medicine. It would save countless lives and change the way we respond to some of our most feared diseases.
Born in Berkeley in 1749, Edward Jenner spent his life making remarkable discoveries, driven by an intense curiosity about how everything worked and a desire to make the world a better place.

In 1798 he published An Inquiry into the Causes and Effects of the Variolae Vaccinae, a Disease discovered in some of the Western Counties of England, particularly Gloucestershire, and known by the name of the Cow Pox, making known his investigations into how a mild disease, cowpox, could protect against the horrific smallpox virus. From the Latin word vacca, meaning “cow”, he called this new practice vaccination.

Jenner devoted the rest of his life to helping others to carry out the practice and ensured that it was available free of charge to those who needed it most, converting a garden summerhouse into the world’s first vaccination clinic. Jenner called it the Temple of Vaccinia.

Vaccination was soon being practised around the world and lives were saved. In 1966 the World Health Organisation decided to try to eradicate smallpox worldwide. Medics and scientists from all nations worked together to identify and trace cases of smallpox before vaccinating those who were at risk. By 1979 there were no new cases: a huge international effort had brought about the culmination of Jenner’s work.

But the story doesn’t end there. Inspired by Jenner, researchers continue to find vaccines to protect against other diseases and vaccination now saves between two and three million lives each and every year. It’s one of the greatest discoveries of all, brought about by one man’s curiosity and thirst for knowledge.

The Church of St Mary is a Church of England parish church in Berkley, Somerset. It is a Grade II* listed building built in 1751.^[1]

The church, dedicated to St Mary, was built in 1751 by Squire Thomas Prowse of the adjacent Berkley House.^[1]

The whitewashed stone church has a west tower and a hip roof with stone slates, while the nave has a central glazed cupola. Both this cupola and the organ have been recently^[when?] restored.^{[2][failed verification]} There are a pair of 17th century panel backed chairs. The font, pulpit and pews date from the mid 19th century.^[1]

Grounds

The walls and gate piers around the church date from the mid 18th century.^[3]

The graveyard contains the graves of the local population including some notable tombs. The tomb of William Hall is made of Doulting Stone and dates from 1670.^[4] The Bath stone tomb of Joseph Singer is inscribed for several members of the Singer family from the 18th and early 19th centuries.^[5] There are also several unidentified tombs.^[6][7][8]