Sherborne abbey

views updated

Sherborne abbey (Dorset) was founded c.700 as a community of secular canons. It was lavishly endowed by the kings of Wessex, some of whom were buried here during the 9th cent. It was reformed c.998 as a house of Benedictine monks by Æthelred II under the guidance of Bishop Wulfsige III of Sherborne. Following the Norman Conquest the episcopal see was transferred to Salisbury. Sherborne retained close links with Salisbury, enjoying the patronage of its bishop Roger (1102–39). Most of its endowments were concentrated in Devon and Dorset, though it also acquired interests in and around Cydweli (Dyfed). At the dissolution it had a net income of nearly £700. Its church, which survives, was rebuilt in the 15th cent. following a riot of townspeople in 1436 which destroyed the earlier church.

Brian Golding