Sherborne, Dorset
You’ll feel inspired by this traditional English market town nestled in a bucolic landscape. Jeremy Walker passes on his best tips
THE sleepy market town of Sherborne lies in The Blackmore Vale on the banks of the River Yeo (don’t get excited, it’s a dribble) in northwest Dorset and is 19 miles north of the county capital Dorchester. Situated within a landscape of gently rolling hills, woodland and agricultural pastureland, Sherborne avoids the mass tourism that can spoil some of Dorset’s coastal towns and has a rather laid back feel.
The appeal of Sherborne for photographers is the quiet, quintessentially English feel to the town. You will be spoilt for choice by having an abbey, the 15th- century almshouse and two castles to shoot as well as other numerous architectural details tucked away in the town’s side streets and alleyways. Access and parking is very easy. There are several town-centre car parks. The ‘old’ castle, a 12th-century fortified palace, is now under the care of English Heritage and has its own car park. The ‘new’ castle, a mansion built by Sir Walter Raleigh, is privately owned and there is an entrance charge.
Sherborne Abbey, the centrepiece of the town, survived the Dissolution of the Monasteries as it was purchased for use as a parish church, which it still is. Visitors are more than welcome, even with a camera and a tripod, providing you are not shooting for commercial purposes. Just a stone’s throw from the Abbey, across the neatly manicured lawns is the photogenic St Johns Almshouse.