As soon as Sir Walter Raleigh was given the Old Castle and its estates by
Queen Elizabeth I, he realised that the stark, comfortless castle was not his
ideal residence, and instead of restoring it he built a new castle alongside the
old one. He called it Sherborne Lodge to distinguish it from the Old Castle, and
this unusual rectangular, six-turreted building became his home. Upon Sir Walter
Raleigh's death on the block his estates were forfeited to the Crown, but in
1617 King James I allowed Sir John Digby to purchase the new castle and this
gentleman added four wings in a similar style to the old building. During the
Civil War, the Old Castle was reduced to a ruin by Cromwell's Parliamentary
forces - the siege in 1645 lasted 16 days and prompted Cromwell to talk of this
'malicious and mischievous castle'. The name Sherborne Castle came to be applied
to the new building, where today splendid collections of Old Masters, porcelain
and furniture are on display.
Other attractions at the castle, which is still in the care of the Digby
family, include the library, a Tudor kitchen and an exhibition of finds from the
Old Castle. Lancelot 'Capability' Brown was called in to create the lake in 1753
and gave Sherborne the very latest in landscape gardening. The Castle, which was
a Red Cross Hospital for wounded soldiers in the First World War and the HQ for
D-Day Commandos in the Second, was opened to the public in 1969 and hosts a
variety of events in the summer season. The gardens, tea room and shop are open
every day except Mondays and Fridays (open Bank Holiday Mondays), from April to
October.
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