Monument record MDO19869 - Sherborne Abbey, Sherborne; cloister walk

The Sherborne Cartulary records the building of a cloister when the Benedictine monastery of Sherborne was created in AD 998. Fragmentary evidence for this and later 12th and 14th century rebuilds and renovations have been recovered from excavations in the Slype (1974-6) and the NW corner of the Abbey Church north aisle (1964-73). The cloisters were demolished circa 1549-50.

According to the Sherborne Cartulary, Wulfsige III (later St. Wulfsin) confirmed the conversion of the cathedral from an establishment of secular canons to a Benedictine Monastery and built a cloister in AD 998. Fragmentary evidence for this early cloister may have been recovered during excavations to the north of The Slype during 1974-6. The records of this excavation have been published in PDNHAS monograph 16 (1). Numbers in square brackets refer to context numbers in this publication.

A small fragment of N-S aligned wall [F489] was recorded 10m to the north of the slype, perpendicular to the north wall of the Abbey Church. This wall was aligned withh another fragment of wall [F153] which was bonded with wall [F154] which ran in an E-W direction beneath the later foundations of the north transept north wall. 4m to the west a small fragment of wall foundation [F583] suggested the western side of a structure interpreted as the east range of the late Saxon cloister walk. The roofline of this cloister survives in the exterior surface of north wall of the north transept and there may have been an early form of the slype or passage between the church and the cloister (1). Evidence for this Saxon cloister was also revealed in an earlier excavation at the south end of the west range. Here evidence for early foundations representing the east and west walls of the cloister and a cross wall (suggesting a possible passageway here too) were excavated. Part of a floor recorded in excavations in the NW corner of the north aisle of the Abbey Church may represent the floor of the south walk of the cloister (2).

A stone cloister arcade was rebuilt in the 1160’s, added to the earlier 12th century cloister buildings of Abbot Thurstan or William Thorncombe. The foundations of the west wall of the east cloister walk were excavated from this period. It was located approximately 4m further west from the position of the Saxon cloister. A later renovation of this east cloister was marked by six buttress plinths and a new alley wall set directly upon the earlier foundations during the 14th century. The outer wall of the north cloister was also marked by post-medieval robbing trench. The east cloister alley path was made from a compacted grey/cream concreted mortar, levelled with clay and gravel in places. A clay layer was recorded in the cloister garth.

The cloisters were demolished circa 1549-50 (1).

<1> Keen, L, and Ellis, P, 2005, Sherborne Abbey and School (Monograph). SDO10263.

<2> Gibb, J H P, 1975, The Anglo-Saxon Cathedral at Sherborne; Archaeological Journal (Article in serial). SDO10316.

Record last edited

Aug 23 2024 1:08PM