Sherborne Abbey
| Sherborne Abbey | |
|---|---|
Sherborne Abbey
|
|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Denomination | Church of England |
| Churchmanship | Broad Church |
| Website | www.sherborneabbey.com |
| History | |
| Dedication | St Mary |
| Administration | |
| Parish | Sherborne |
| Diocese | Salisbury |
| Province | Canterbury |
| Clergy | |
| Vicar(s) | The Revd Canon Eric Woods The Revd Jonathan Triffitt |
| Curate(s) | The Revd Graeme Hartley The Revd Brenda Phillips |
| Laity | |
| Organist/Director of music | Paul Ellis |
| Organist(s) | Peter Bray |
The Abbey Church of St Mary the Virgin at Sherborne in the English county of Dorset, is usually called Sherborne Abbey. It has been a Saxon cathedral (705–1075), a Benedictine abbey (998–1539), and now, a parish church.
There may have been a Celtic Christian church called 'Lanprobi' at the site, and Kenwalc or Cenwalh, King of the West Saxons is believed to be one of its founders.
When the Saxon Diocese of Sherborne was founded in 705 by King Ine of Wessex, he set Aldhelm as first Bishop of the see of Western Wessex, with his seat at Sherborne. Aldhelm was the first of twenty-seven Bishops of Sherborne.
The twentieth bishop was Wulfsige III (or St. Wulfsin). In 998 he established a Benedictine abbey at Sherborne and became its first abbot. In 1075 the bishopric of Sherborne was transferred to Old Sarum, so Sherborne remained an abbey church but was no longer a cathedral. The bishop (in Old Sarum) remained the nominal head of the abbey until 1122, when Roger de Caen, Bishop of Salisbury, made the abbey independent.
Known Abbots include:
The Benedictine foundation at Sherborne ended in the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539, when the abbey was surrendered to King Henry VIII. Various properties at Sherborne were bought from the king by Sir John Horsey who then sold the abbey to the people of Sherborne, who bought the building to be their parish church (as people of many other places did), which it still is. The original parish church alongside the abbey was demolished, though the foundations are still visible. In 1550, King Edward VI issued a new charter to the school that had existed at Sherborne since 705, and some of the remaining abbey buildings were turned over to it.
...
Wikipedia