The Te Deum stained glass window in the south transept of Sherborne Abbey was designed by Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin (1812-52) and made in 1851-2 by John Hardman & Co.[1] The window was one of a number commissioned from Hardman & Co. by the architect Richard Cromwell Carpenter (1812-1855) for his restoration of the Abbey. … Read more
In 1657, Mary Whetcombe gave to Sherborne Abbey a candelabra in memory of her husband John Whetcombe, a former churchwarden. The candelabra, which was probably made in Holland or by London silversmiths to a Dutch design, is the earliest dated example of its type in England. Made of brass, the candelabra is topped by a … Read more
According to her legend, Juthware, or Juthwara (Judith), was a Saxon woman who lived sometime between the 6th and 8th centuries in Halstock, Dorset. Juthware was very religious and known to pray and fast and to give alms to the poor. After her mother’s death, Juthware’s father remarried but when he too died Juthware began … Read more
Emerenciana was a foster sister of St Agnes and was stoned to death when she was found praying at Agnes’s tomb. She is often represented holding stones and lilies and is the patron saint of stomach problems and colic. The feast day of St Emerenciana (also known as St Emerentiana) is celebrated by the Catholic … Read more
On 7 June 1891, Reverend Mother Ignace Pollenus, the Superior of the Religious of the Christian Instruction in Ghent, Belgium, arrived in Sherborne with seven nuns to establish a Roman Catholic community in Westbury in a former Sherborne School boarding house. The Order had many English students in Ghent whose parents wanted them to open a … Read more
The church of All Hallows was built in the 14th-century against the west end of Sherborne Abbey and, from 1437 until 1539, it served as the town’s parish church. All Hallows was demolished in about 1540 after the town acquired the adjoining Abbey church for its parish church, although the remains of the north wall … Read more
Ann Hosey was born at Sherborne on 8 November 1721, the youngest child of Elias Hosey (1670-1762), an attorney, and Gertrude (née Goare) (1684-1755). On 30 April 1753 Ann was married in Sherborne Abbey to the Rev. Edward Cotes (1724-1780), son of the Rev. Digby Cotes (1683-1744) of Coleshill, Warwickshire, and grandson of the Hon. … Read more