Listed Building record MDO15200 - Sherborne House (Lord Digby's School for Girls); Newland, Sherborne

Sherborne House is a Palladian house built for Henry Seymour Portman in 1720 by Benjamin Bastard, a member of the well-known Dorset family responsible for rebuilding Blandford after a disastrous fire. The house replaced a Tudor residence of which a section was retained as the service wing to the new house. The main elevation is of ashlar and is of three storeys in seven bays, the central three break forward under a pediment. The Tudor fabric survives in the eastern wing and can be dated to the first half of the 16th century. In the early-mid 17th century Ovolo moulded windows were inserted on both floors and the roof was reconstructed. The Digby wing, originally a purpose built stable, was added during these alterations. Much of the original interior decoration survives, and by far the most elaborate room is the stair hall with mural paintings by Sir James Thornhill. The Digby wing was subdivided and cottages formed in the west wing in the mid-late 18th century and the north arm of the east wing was altered in the early 19th century. The central part of the east range was converted in the 1850s to house the Sherborne Literary Institute. The conversion was instigated by the actor William Charles Macready who lived here from 1850 to 1859. In 1931 it became the Lord Digby Grammar School For Girls. This new use meant that several rooms had to be enlarged and new windows and fire escapes were added. A science block was added in 1957. In 1993, following the closure of the school in the previous year, Dorset County Council vacated the house and a group of local people with the encouragement of the County Council formed the Sherborne House Trust, a charitable company who aim to restore the house and open it as a Regional Centre for the Visual Arts.

ST 63911692). Sherborne House (Lord Digby's School) (NAT). (2)

Lord Digby's School. C16th North West Wing, altered and modernised in the C18th. The main block built c. 1720. (1)

Sherborne House (Lord Digby's School for Girls). Grade 2*. (3-4, 6)

<1> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments England, 1952, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume I (West), 217-8 (Monograph). SDO97.

<2> Ordnance Survey, c 1962, Ordnance Survey 1:2500 map, epoch five, 1964 (Map). SDO13903.

(ST 63911692). Sherborne House (Lord Digby's School) (NAT)

<3> Newman, J, and Pevsner, N, 1972, The Buildings of England: Dorset, 383 (Monograph). SWX1290.

<4> DOE (HHR), 1973, List of Buildings of Special Historic and Architectural Interest: West Dorset Urban District of Sherborne, 123 (Scheduling record). SDO17491.

<5> Whitehead, B, 1996, Sherborne House, Sherborne; Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society (Article in serial). SDO10363.

<6> Higginbotham, P, 2000, World Wide Web page andlt;http://www.workhouses.org.uk/, <http://www.sherbornehouse.org.uk/> [Accessed 17-MAY-2004] (Digital archive). SDO17705.

<7> Rodwell, K A, 2009, The History and Structural Development of Sherborne House, Sherborne, Dorset (Unpublished document). SDO16412.

<8> Rodwell, K A, 2009, The History and Structural Development of Sherborne House, Sherborne, Dorset (Unpublished document). SDO16412.

<9> Henderson, A, 2014, The History and Development of Sherborne House. Addendum (Unpublished document). SDO16411.

<10> Bridge, M, 2014, Sherborne House, Newland, Sherborne, Dorset. Tree-Ring Analysis of Timbers from the Tudor Wing (Monograph). SDO14408.

<11> Green, C, 2015, Sherborne House, Newland, Sherborne, Dorset. A Programme of Archaeological Works - Final Report (Unpublished document). SDO14442.

<12> Historic England, Historic England Archive, BF099032 (Index). SDO14738.

SHERBORNE HOUSE, NEWLAND, SHERBORNE

<13> National Record of the Historic Environment, 887483 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Aug 23 2024 1:06PM