Dotted around Sherborne are a number of public benches dedicated to women, so why not see how many you can find? Please do let me know if you find a bench I’ve missed.
CASTLETON, ST MARY MAGDALENE CHURCH
‘In loving memory of Katherine Louis [sic] Staunton Bunch 19.01.06-4.04.99. A devoted member of Castleton Church’
Katherine Louise Staunton Bunch was born on 19 January 1906 at Buckhurst Hill, Essex, daughter of Robert Staunton Bunch (1851-1924), a Bank of England clerk, and Madeleine Alice Mary Bunch (née Murray) (1873-1951). She was educated at a Girls’ School at Oaklea, Buckhurst Hill, Essex, and from 1927 to 1928 studied Italian part-time at University College, University of London. In 1939 Katherine and her sisters Dorothy and Joan were working as bank clerks and living together at 2, Wavertree Road, South Woodford, London. Katherine died at Sherborne on 4 April 1999. Another bench in memory of Katherine and her sister Joan Emily Staunton Bunch (1904-1987) can be found in the Pageant Gardens.
CHEAP STREET CHURCH
‘Remembering Larissa Cole 1969-2003’
‘In loving Memory of Robert James Patrick 1915-2001 and Joan Patrick 1921-2015’
Robert James Patrick was born on 10 July 1915 and died on 1 April 2001. Joan Patrick was born in 1921 and died at the Abbey View Care Home, Sherborne on 17 July 2015. A funeral service was held on 31 July 2015 at Cheap Street Church, Sherborne.
DIGBY HALL, HOUND STREET
‘In memory Betty Thompson 1910-2003. To whom life in Sherborne gave constant joy’
Betty Thompson (née Gumbrill) was born on 3 July 1910. In 1940 she married Kenneth H. Thompson. She died on 11 July 2003.
DIGBY ROAD
‘In memory of Cllr Marjorie Snowden Mayor of Sherborne in 2003-04 and 2011-12’
Marjorie Rosina Jackson Snowden was born on 18 October 1927 and died on 24 October 2021. Originally from Harrogate in Yorkshire, in 1997 she moved to Sherborne where she served for many years as a town and district councillor and was Mayor of Sherborne twice. A funeral service was held at Yeovil Crematorium on 10 November 2021.
NEWLAND GARDENS
‘Rest here a while and thank Dot Batterberry 1927-1998’
Dorothy Batterberry (née Dawson) was born on 27 July 1927. In 1859 she married James Michael Batterberry (1930-2007). Dorothy died in 1998.
The “Happy to Chat Bench” Sit here if you don’t mind someone stopping to say hello!’
Installed by Sherborne Town Council. Chatty Benches is a national initiative to combat loneliness and isolation. For those who are feeling lonely or needing to talk, Chatty Benches are a great way of encouraging people to connect with others.
PADDOCK GARDENS, NEWLAND
‘Mr and Mrs R. Gaskell, Sherborne’
‘Presented by the family of the late John and Muriel Rowe’
‘Presented by the daughter of Horace Gilbert and Norah Stone’
Norah Stone (née Peters) was born on 23 November 1896. In 1918 she married Horace Gilbert Stone (1890-1967). Norah died on 11 June 1979.
‘Presented by the husband of the late Margaret Rose Taylor’
Margaret Rose Taylor (née Swain) was born on 14 March 1927. In 1948 she married William J. Taylor. She died on 27 June 2003.
‘Helen Douglas Thomas of Edinburgh and Herbert Thomas of Dublin’
‘Donated by the family of Edna Thorpe’
Edna Thorpe was born on 4 July 1927 and died on 14 May 2004.
PAGEANT GARDENS, DIGBY ROAD
‘In memory of Joan and Katherine Bunch’
Joan Emily Staunton Bunch was born on 7 May 1904 and died on 2 August 1987. Her sister Katherine Louise Staunton Bunch was born on 19 January 1906 and died on 4 April 1999. Joan and Katherine’s parents were Robert Staunton Bunch (1851-1924), a Bank of England clerk, and Madeleine Alice Mary Bunch (née Murray) (1873-1951). In 1939 the sisters were working as bank clerks and living with their sister Dorothy at 2, Wavertree Road, South Woodford, London. Another bench in memory of Katherine can be found in the churchyard of St Mary Magdalene, Castleton.
‘In memory of Victor Roy Davies 28.01.1917-01.01.2000. Lesley Joyce Davies 13.12.1918-16.01.2006’
Lesley Joyce Davies (née Cox) was born on 13 December 1918. In 1955 she married Victor Roy Davies (1917-2000). She died on 16 January 2006.
‘Jeanie Ferguson. In memory of a wonderful Scottish lady. Loved and sadly missed 1/12/31-16/7/05’
Jean Ferguson was born on 1 December 1931 and died on 16 July 2005.
‘In memory of Jean Hillyer née Hadfield’
Jean Mary Hillyer (née Hadfield) was born on 8 January 1920 and died on 1 May 2002.
SHERBORNE ABBEY PRECINCT
‘In memory of George and Phyllis Abbott. Residents of Sherborne 1911-2006’
Phyllis Mary Abbott (née Bugler) was born on 29 May 1920. In 1942 she married Frederick George Abbott (1911-2003). Phyllis died on 16 March 2006 at Eastbury House, Sherborne. A funeral service was held on 30 March 2006 at the Church of St Mary Magdalene, Castleton, Sherborne.
‘Stephanie Jane Andrews 1938-2003. A nurse loved by all’
Stephanie Jane Andrews was born on 27 October 1938 and died on 21 June 2003. A funeral service was held on 12 July 2003 at the Exeter & Devon Crematorium.
‘A Place to Rest. In Memory of Olive Button (1913-2005). A wonderful Aunt. From her loving family’
Lilian Olive Button (née Pollard) was born on 30 May 1913. In 1939 she married William Edward Button (1913-1946), REME, who died in Israel on 25 September 1946. Olive died in 2005.
‘Sometimes just getting upon and carrying on is brave and magnificent’ (from ‘The boys, the mole, the fox and the horse’ by Charlie Mackesy). Emma Guthrie-Harrison 13 January 1971-8 April 2019′
‘In memory of our beautiful daughter Philippa “Pippa” Harrison 1989-2013. There’s not a day we do not miss your beautiful smile. Love Mum & Dad Ashley & Marek’
‘Presented to the town of Sherborne by Mrs McAdam 1847-1929’
Frances Elizabeth McAdam (née Monck) (1847-1929) was born on 15 April 1847, daughter of John Bligh Monck (1811-1903) and Elizabeth Margaret (née Yates) of Coley Park, Reading, Berkshire. On 11 July 1871 she married Major James John Loudon McAdam (1841-1910) of the 7th Dragoon Guards. In September 1876 they moved to Sherborne, renting Greenhill House [now The Green, a Sherborne School boarding house] from the Ffooks family. In 1905 Frances played Osburga in the Sherborne Pageant, alongside her grandson Richard Loudon McCreery who played Alfred. Her husband played Sir John Horsey and their grandson Robert Bruce McCreery played a native American. In 1909 Frances joined the local committee of the Sherborne branch of the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies (NUWSS). During the First World War, she was Voluntary Commandant of the Greenhill VA Hospital and in May 1916 she had four revolving huts for open-air treatment erected in her garden at Greenhill House, making it the first hospital in Dorset to use this treatment for patients suffering from septic wounds or gas poisoning. Frances died at Stowell Hill, Templecombe on 12 May 1929 and was buried in Sherborne Cemetery on 15 May 1929.
‘Joan Margaret Hamlyn Miller (née Pascoe) 23.11.1918-09.03.2015. Aunt, Sherborne Dentist (1945-1974), Gardener, Citizen’
Joan Margaret Hamlyn Miller (née Pascoe) was born on 23 November 1918. In 1940 she married Reginald Kenneth Pritchard Miller (1917-1958). Having qualified as a dentist, in February 1945 Joan took over the dental practice at Brooklyn House, 26 Cheap Street, Sherborne, where her husband joined her in May 1946 after he was demobbed. Following her husband’s death in 1958 Joan resumed full-time practice until her retirement in 1974. She died on 9 March 2015.
SHERBORNE CEMETERY, LENTHAY
‘In loving memory of Elsie Alicia Rebecca Paine who so loved Sherborne 16.2.05-9.9.99’
Elsie Alicia Rebecca Paine (née Baxter) was born on 16 February 1905. In 1927 she married Alfred Frank Paine (1896-1951). She died on 9 September 1999.
‘In loving memory of a dear sister Pearl Schneider née Oliver 1922-2006’
Pearl May Schneider (née Oliver) was born on 6 January 1922. In 1921 she was working as a cook for Harold and Dorothy Amans at ‘Langside’, Long Street, Sherborne. In 1949 she married Bernhard A.K. Schneider. Pearl died at Yeovil District Hospital on 28 August 2006. A funeral service was held at Yeovil Crematorium on 8 September 2006.
ST PAUL’S CHURCH, ST PAUL’S CLOSE
‘In memory of Pam Yorke. A long standing member of St Paul’s Church for many years’
Betty Pamela Jean Churchill was born on 16 November 1928. She married twice, firstly In 1951 to Cyril William Bugler (1923-1989) and secondly in 1995 to Reginald James Yorke (1927-2007). She lived at 35, McCreery Road, Sherborne, and died on 4 August 2022.
Rachel Hassall
Revised 5 April 2026