The Weekenders - Search for weekend getaways around the UK.

Sherborne

5|4|3|2|1

A weekend off the beaten track

Lovely Sherborne is a medieval market town built in honeyed Dorset stone with a bustling main street, two castles and, right in the middle, the handsome 15th century Sherborne Abbey. It’s a happy little place that would be full of tourists in high season if it wanted to be, but fortunately it seems perfectly content to potter along as is, welcoming those visitors who happen upon it. Sitting close to the Dorset / Somerset border and on the edge of the Blackmore Vale, Sherborne is surrounded on all sides by rolling hills and pretty countryside - perfect for an afternoon’s ramble followed by a pint (or three) in a cosy local pub. Under three hours’ drive from London, Sherborne can be reached even more easily by train - just two hours direct from London Waterloo - making it the perfect destination for a fuss-free weekend.

What to see?

Sherborne is a small town and it won’t take long to wander around the centre on foot. The architecture is a mix of medieval and Georgian, with some wonderful town houses, such as the impressive Sherborne House on Newlands. The most notable building, however, has to be Sherborne Abbey, which can be seen for miles around. Originally a Saxon Cathedral, then a Benedictine Monastery, the Abbey was re-built in the 15th century as a jaw-dropping parish church - voted one of the most beautiful in England. As well as a great place to wander around, the Abbey is also home to its own Music Festival each May, with top names in classical music making the most of the great acoustics.

A fifteen minute walk from the town, Sherborne Castle is the town’s other claim to fame. Built in 1594 by Sir Walter Raleigh, the handsome Elizabethan castle sits in 40 acres of glorious Capability Brown gardens and next to its own enormous lake. Perfect for aimless wandering and summer picnics, the castle and its grounds also play host to some great events throughout the year - open air theatre, concerts, fireworks and classic car shows. Romantic weekenders (with an anorak) will love Sherborne’s Old Castle - the tumbling ruins of a 12th century palace, which later became an important Royalist stronghold in the Civil War. With stunning views across the town and the Dorset countryside beyond, it’s also a great base for walkers. For starters, the stroll through the castle grounds towards the pretty village of Goathill, just over a mile away, is especially pretty.

Once you’ve ticked off Sherborne’s big attractions, there’s little left to do in town but to potter about the town’s antiques shops and enjoy the fruits of its cosy cafés and firelit pubs. Not a bad way to spend an afternoon when you think about it.

Or why not try?

Around and about

If you’re without the car, there are plenty of chocolate box villages and country pubs within walking distance of Sherborne centre. The lovely village of Sandford Orcas is a three-mile walk north along a quiet country lane through pretty countryside, where you’ll be rewarded with the friendly Mitre Inn, which serves good pub grub and local beer. Walk a little further to see the village’s pretty little church and historic Sandford Orcas Manor, reputedly one of the most haunted houses in Britain.

For drivers, there is plenty to see, not least the stunning Dorset and Somerset countryside. For a day’s walk that will certainly blow away the cobwebs, head four miles north to the tiny village of Corton Denham, where you can walk along a ridgeway offering wonderful far-reaching views to Cadbury Castle, an iron age fort that is best-known as a reputed site of Camelot.

East of Sherborne is the undulating Blackmore Vale and the lush Stour Valley - miles of rolling hills and farmland that famously inspired Thomas Hardy and featured heavily in Tess of the D’Urbevilles. Walk through lovely Duncliffe Wood, 14 miles east towards Shafterbsury, and up Duncliffe Hill for some stunning views across the whole area. Shaftesbury itself is just over a half an hour’s drive from Sherborne and is another historic market town that’s good for a wander. The famous cobbled Gold Hill made famous by Ridley Scott’s 1970s Hovis advert, is definitely Shaftesbury’s piéce-de-resistance, offering beautiful views out across the Vale. There’s also the great Turnbulls deli selling loads of delicious Dorset grub - perfect for picnickers.

Above Shaftersbury and forty minutes from Sherborne is gorgeous Stourhead - a honey-coloured Palladian mansion with world-famous landscape gardens that couldn’t be a more romantic spot if it tried. Laid out in the mid-eighteenth-century, the gardens and parkland lie around a huge ornamental lake, its banks dotted with follies, grottos, temples and statues. It’s easy to spend a whole day strolling through the greenery, especially if you opt for a bite to eat and a pint at The Spread Eagle Inn, Stourhead’s own country pub. For one of the best night’s out in the UK, visit Stourhead for its famous Fête Champetre in July - a fireworks/music/picknicking/dressing-up extravaganza which, despite its name, is very, very British.

Sixteen miles south of Sherborne is the very pretty 18th century village of Milton Abbas - considered to be the first ever planned town or village in England, while the infamous, and extremely well-endowed Cerne Abbas Giant is carved into a chalk hill a little further away. According to folklore, women who want to conceive should spend a night on the Giant’s, well, ‘magic wand’, or couples can make love on the same spot for the same effect. If this doesn’t appeal, but you’re still keen to see an enormous, sexually-aroused, club-wielding giant, there are plenty of good vantage points well away from the fertility zone.

Top of page