One of Dorset’s most iconic buildings has landed a prestigious architectural award.
Sherborne House is a Grade I listed Georgian mansion that has been sensitively restored and adapted into a new cultural destination known as The Sherborne.
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) named it winner of the refurbishment and revitalisation project category at its south west regional awards ceremony.
The restoration of The Sherborne was a painstaking affair.
Dorset-based SPASE design – the architects behind projects at Athelhampton House and Duntish Mill Farm – worked to create a new space in the old frame, preserving some incredible features while adding a gorgeous, airy extension.
That extension houses the restaurant. Outside, the gardens were remodelled and spaces made for art pieces such as the allium sculptures at the front, and changing sculptures at the back.
The judges said: “This is a strong and well-considered heritage-led project that successfully brings a Grade I listed building back into meaningful public use.
“The scheme demonstrates clear strengths in conservation, adaptive reuse and community benefit, with a thoughtful balance between preserving historic fabric and enabling contemporary functionality.”
Sherborne House is home to one of only three surviving murals by the celebrated artist and history painter to George I, Sir James Thornhill. Of the other two, one is in the dome of St Paul’s Cathedral and the other is in the Painted Hall at the Royal Hospital in Greenwich.
The Baroque mural was painted in the 1720s, just after the house was built. Girls attending Lord Digby’s School for Girls there in the 20th century would have to line up to see the headmistress on those stairs, forbidden to touch the walls or even pass each other on the stairs lest they touched it.
The school closed in 1992.
Sherborne House was pulled from dereliction to grandeur by philanthropist and arts lover Michael Cannon. Michael left comprehensive school aged 15 having struggled with dyslexia, and travelled the world by boat before making his fortune in the pub trade. He bought Dorchester brewery Eldridge Pope in 2005.
When he offered up the funds to buy it in 2018 it was a wreck – and listed on the English Heritage Buildings at Risk register.
As he envisioned, The Sherborne opened as a premier arts venue and community space in 2024. The project will go on to represent the south west at the UK grand final in October.
Hooray Henry who bought Sherborne House for £1,155
Sherborne House was built in the early 1700s by Benjamin Bastard of Blandford, for ex-soldier and MP Henry Seymour Portman. The house replaced an older building, which Henry had purchased for £1,155.
Henry had become wealthy through marrying an heiress and a large inheritance and wanted a halfway house between his other properties in London and Somerset.
By the time he commissioned Sherborne House he was married for a second time – this time to a teenage bride, despite Henry himself being in his late 70s or early 80s. Henry died in 1728, before the glorious mural he had commissioned in the hallway was finished.
The house passed to a nephew, then was bought by the second Earl Digby in 1816. For years, right up until it became a school in 1931, it was rented out.
For nine years it was occupied by the famous actor William Macready, who was great friends with Charles Dickens, who came to the house and read A Christmas Carol to guests. Browning and Thackeray also made appearances. Macready left in 1860 having suffered the deaths of three of his children, his wife and his sister under that roof.
The Sherborne opening times
Monday – Saturday
10am – 5pm
Sunday & Bank Holidays
10am – 4pm
Exhibition galleries open from 10.30am. Last entry is 50 minutes before closing. Please check their latest announcements before visiting to avoid disappointment in the case of closures for private events, etc.
More stories about Sherborne
- Sherborne crowned Dorset Town of Culture 2027 in exciting win
- Sherborne House: £15 million transformation reveals 18th century masterpiece
- Sherborne Abbey unveils £1 million appeal for new toilets and revamp
