Guidebook: Sherborne Old Castle

Sherborne Old Castle was a magnificent fortified palace built in the 1120s by Roger, Bishop of Salisbury, chancellor of Henry I. Sherborne was seized by King Stephen in 1139 and remained with the Crown for the next 200 years before it was returned to the bishops of Salisbury. In the 1590s Elizabeth I gave Sherborne to her favourite Sir Walter Ralegh, who converted the castle into a country mansion. It was besieged twice during the Civil War and fell into ruin. In the 1750s Capability Brown landscaped the gardens of the estate, highlighting the castle ruins as a romantic feature. In 1956 Sherborne Old Castle was taken into the care of the State and remains in the care of English Heritage.

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