Sherborne: A Cotswold Village

by Sybil Longhurst, Walter Tufnell, Alice Tufnell

The village of Sherborne nestles in the valley of a tributary of the River Windrush in the heart of the Cotswold country. In many ways its appearance and history are typical of other villages in this most picturesque of districts but it also has a long and fascinating history of its own to tell. First mentioned in the Domesday Book as Scireburne, when it had a population of fifty-nine landowners and families, its population gradually increased to reach a peak in Victorian times but it has always remained a small, compact community. The abbots of Winchcombe were the original owners of the manor and estate and at the time of the Dissolution of the monasteries in 1533, the abbot leased them to Sir John Alleyn, a past Lord Mayor of London. In 1557, Sir John's son sold the estate to Thomas Dutton for the sum of $3,000 and thus began a 'dynasty' which was to endure for over four centuries and have its own influence on the working and social life of the village. The village played a major role in the woollen trade of the Cotswolds in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries as a centre for sheep-shearing. The Sherborne brook was a convenient place for wool washing and locally occuring fuller's earth was used for 'fulling' the wool. The last four decades have seen the rapid demise of the close-knit village community that had endured for centuries. The movement of young people away from the village to seek employment elsewhere has been followed by the arrival of new villagers seeking the peace and beauty of the Cotswolds and the old community bonds have gone forever. It was this feeling of impending loss that led a small group of Sherborne people to begin the recording of their village history. Walter Tufnell, Alice Tufnell and Sybil Longhurst, have collected together a fascinating and important history of the village. A particularly important and enjoyable part of this village history is the charming portrayal of life in the village as it was around a century ago, recall

192 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 1992