The Sun.
London, England, 1858-08-21 00:00:00

SHERBORNE ABBEY, DORSET.

On Wednesday, the 18th inst., the choir of this fine old
Abbey Church was reopened for Divine service after hav-
ing been closed for nearly two years, for the purposes of
repair and renovation. From the grandeur of the Abbey
itself, and the motives which have led to its restoration, and
the unusually complete and splendid character which tkat
restoration has assumed, a more than ordinary interest at-
taches to it; we shall therefore give a brief description of
the edifice as it was, and as it is, and of the ceremonials
attendant upon its reopening. We may first, however,
state that Sherborne was anciently the seat of a bishopric,
the first cathedral having been erected by Bishop Aldbeirn,
A.D. 705. It is almost unnecessary to remark that of the
edifice so founded not a vestige now remains. For 184
years the Bishops of Sherborne reigned in peace, but in 889
the diocese was divided into two--Wilton and Sher-
borne. The two sees continued thus separated until
the year 1044, when they were re suited in the
person of Bishop lletneau, after whose death in Hl.
the see was removed to Salisbury, and Sherborne finally
cused to be a bishopric. The present fabric consists of a
nave, aisles, and south porch, a central tower, north and
south transepts, chapels attached, and a choir with aisles.
There are also remains of the lady chapel and cloisters. The
general style of the church is perpendicular, but tench of its
individuality ntay undoubtedly be trawl to the ori-
ginal Norman plan and structure; the actual remains
of Norman date are confined to the tower arches, some por-
tions of the transepts, and the south porch. In the year
1849 the nave and transepts were restored at the expense of
the parishioners, assisted by a gift from Earl Digby. The
architect selected was the late Mr. Carpenter, under whose
direction the restoration was carried out, and the present
seating, organ, pulpit, &c., were erected.

These works were brought to a conclusion in 1851. The
choir was then left untouched, but its condition, which had
or some time given rise to much uneasiness, soon became
so decidedly dangerous that it was no longer used for Divine
service. No steps were, however, taken for its preservation
\until the year 1856, when the death of Earl Digby occurred.
His nephew and heir, Mr.G.D. W. Digby, of Sherborne Castle,

then conceived the idea of making its restoration a means
of preserving the memory of his uncle. It is therefore to
Mr. Digby's sole munificence that these splendid and ex-
tensive works are due. With the view of carrying out Lis
intentions Mr. Digby in the same year requested Mr.
Slater, of Carlton Chambers, the successor of Mr. Carpenter,
to make a survey of, and report upon, the then condition of
the choir, and to state the measures he should recommend
to be taken to secure its safety, and give back to it its original
beauty. This being done, and his report adopted by Mr
Digby, the works which he recommended were forthwith
commenced, and owing to the great vigour with which they
have been pressed forward, were brought to a conclusion
on the 18th instant. The beautiful stone face vaulting of the
choir, which was In a very dangerous state, has been
taken down, stone by stone, and entirely rebuilt,
and over this has been erected a new outer roof of
oak, covered with lead. The flying buttresses, which
were were then rebuilt, and the win-
dowsraaldidply sbarappeertisrinesg;ored, or rather renewed. It will
thus be seen that the restoration has almost amounted
to an entire reconstruction of the fabric. We should
muchonew
especial
cessarily mention, however, that while
tywhailn e
esoltiect
neda's many of the old stones as was practicable.
architect
Thus far of the restoration of the existing features of the
ancient structure. We must now proceed to describe those
which, until recently, had no place within its walls; and
first of the pavement : this is composed, as far east as the
altar rail, of encaustic tiling, made by Messrs. Minfon
and Co. The majority of the patterns employed are
reproduced from the old tiles found in the Abbey
Into some of the new ones the arms of the Queen,
the Bishop, and of the Digbys have been introduced.
Within the rails the floor is inlaid with marble mosaic, dis-
posed in various patterns. This is a description of pavement
which, from its very costly nature, is but seldom employed
in England; a beautiful specimen of it (executed, how-
ever, by foreign artists) may be seen at Westminster Abbey.
Next to be noticed are the stalls of oak which occupy the
western bay of the choir on e ich side ; the hindmost rank
being the old stalls of the monks, and the two front rows
being new. The design for these is of the richest and most
elaborate character.
The old altar-piece, in the Corinthian style, has been re-
moved, slid its place is occupied by a new reredos of Caen
stone enriched with sculpture. The centre bas-relief repre-
sents the Ascension of Our Lord ; the height of the figure
is about four feet. Underneath this are three canopied re-
cesses; the bas-reliefs which occupy them represent the
Last Supper. The reredos was carved by Mr. Forsyth.
The choir is shut off from its aisles by stone screens
and ornamental iron gates, which last, together with
the rich brass gas standards which light the choir at night,
were executed from the architect's designs by Mr. Skidmore,
of Coventry. The altar cloth of crimson velvet, embroidered
gold, was worked by Mrs. Beard, of Regent-street, who
also executed the rest of the embroidery, with the exception
of the kneeling cushion at the altar rail, which was
undertaken by the Sherboree ladies.
and Colourwal
ls andwit
with
gildinggood
effect.have been
Finally,introduced
the
wholein the
of
f vaultingthe
east window are placed a variety of-•subjects
eeclerestor windows
win-
dows have been filled with the richest sbt.eanienttseßditsgabkloaepsnyss.fofolmsnlitteh:
Bible, including the Crucifixion, S.c.
martyrs, prophets,and kings.
clayetxonecuted
designed and
line off thee ao
ba roer ne filledtogwe ;tie'
sof London. Mr.
by Messrs. Clayton and ,orthe
bas-reliefs like-
wise furnished the cartoons f.s in the reredos.
The whole of together
hwheeistelhownign figuresdo °w_ er
ne general effect of the choir, now that it is restored,
grand in the extreme, the stalls, reredos, pavement, stained
glass and colouring, producing an impression which can be
realised in but few other English churches.
At the reopening services, at 11 o'clock, a procession was
formed from the Town-hall to the Abbey, inel,ading the
Bishop of Salisbury, wish his chaplains. the vicar: the Rev.
E.
Morningllarst o n ,
prayeron d i&O
then o f the
commenced, clergy in ttliheei r
scanoeei Cal .
being
in-
toned by Prebendaries Heathcote and Hel-more. The
service was Tallis ; the anthem, "0 pray for the peace of
Jerusalem." The musical services W'lre directed by Mr.
Pickering, the organist.