“Improvements to ‘comfort’ at the Abbey are long-overdue, and it was one of my promises, as the new Rector of Sherborne Abbey, to prioritise this work and to make the Abbey an even more welcoming and accessible place to work and visit. These proposals represent the most significant improvement to facilities at the Abbey since the recovery of The Lady Chapel in the 1920s, and I hope they will be welcomed by the local community and visitors alike”.
The Revd. Martin Lee, Team Rector
For more than thirteen centuries, Sherborne Abbey has stood at the heart of the community, serving as a place of worship, heritage and gathering.
Today, the Abbey welcomes more than 50,000 visitors each year and hosts services, concerts and civic occasions throughout the year. Yet essential facilities within the building itself have never been fully realised.
The Facilities Upgrade Programme is a carefully considered response to this, ensuring that the Abbey can continue to serve all who come here with dignity, accessibility and welcome.
The programme brings together a series of carefully designed changes within the existing building.
Visitor facilities will be introduced within the Abbey in a discreet and sensitive manner, making use of areas of more recent construction. A new vestry will be created beneath the organ loft, providing a central and practical space to support the day-to-day life of the building.
Improvements to access, including the installation of a wheelchair lift, together with enhanced hospitality provision, will allow the Abbey to be used more fully for services, events and community activities.
Each element has been developed with great care to respect the historic fabric of the building.
Outline plans have been prepared by the Abbey’s Inspecting Architect, Marcus Chantrey, and these are publicly available to view in The Ambulatory at Sherborne Abbey. The Diocesan Advisory Committee (DAC), and other amenity bodies, have also been invited to comment on these proposals.
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