Growing Up With History

A Memory of Sherborne.

My family and I lived in part of this house for 11 years and were fortunate to learn much of its history. First built in 1086, this house has been remodeled countless times to suit the fashion of the day and been used for numerous purposes. During the times of Henry VIII this house was used as a monastery and within the central quad the typical monastic cloisters can still be seen. In an attempt to escape being captured by Henry's men, the monks built underground tunnels reaching as far as Burford and Cheltenham. Later on during the English Civil war, Lord Sherborne would take money from the roundheads and cavaliers respectively to cross these vast distances when escaping from one another. The tunnels have since been filled in. As is well documented, Queen Elizabeth I stayed here twice. On these occasions, Lord Sherborne would go and stay in the Lodge across the A40. Many years on this house was used as a school, early video evidence remains and shows how the large pond in the grounds around the back was originally a swimming pool. The school boys eventually rebelled and the story is captured in the movie "If". Finally, Sean Connery's (James Bond star) wife and son also lived in the house at one stage. One final point, if you ever visit this village you will notice that one major thing is missing....a pub. The reason for this is because Lord Sherborne didn't want his servants to get drunk, so the Sherborne Arms is situated in the village of Aldsworth, around 5 miles away.