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SHERBORNE
Independent retail therapy
PORTLAND
Dining at the Jailhouse Café
WIMBORNE
Folk Festival fun
June 2013 dorsetmagazine.co.uk
Fast &
Furious
Join polo’s mounted
gladiators at Sandbanks
£2.75
DREAM
WEDDING
Tying the knot at
Athelhampton
BRING ON THE
BUMBLEBEES
Nature’s bravest and
busiest pollinator
OPEN
GARDENS
Over 100 Dorset
venues to visit

Sherborne’s
Independent
Spirit
Sherborne is rightly proud of its
tradition of small shops and a vibrant
and thriving high street. It’s no
surprise then that plans for a Tesco
superstore have brought this
tight-knit community even closer
together as they prepare to do battle
WORDS BY: LIZ BURT
PHOTOGRAPHS BY: ANTHONY BLAKE
Brian Holt and Jenny Hann with some of their staff at Abbey Decor
Abbey Decor
A proper hardware shop
There’s something special about a
traditional hardware shop that you
just don’t get in the big out of town
DIY stores. Open the shop door at
Abbey Decor and there it is – all your
home essentials within easy reach
and if you can’t find that
‘thingummy’ there is someone
cheery behind the counter to take
you straight to it.
Brian Holt and Jenny Hann have
owned Abbey Decor for 12 years
though the business itself has been in
Sherborne for 35 years. Their top
selling product is kettle descaler –
which says more about the local hard
24 DORSET June 2013
dorsetmagazine.co.uk

Abbey Decor is one of the few places you can still
buy nails, screws and hooks by the number rather
than in a packet
Above:
Looking
towards
the Abbey
from Digby
Road
water than it does about the town’s
tea-making habits! They can do
everything from mixing you a pot of
paint to selling you a single screw or
nail - it’s one of the few places you
can still buy nails, screws and hooks
by the number rather than in a
packet.
“We’re privileged to live and work
in the town,” says Brian. “One of our
favourite pastimes is to walk around
Sherborne Castle park, it’s a
magnificent place to have on our
doorstep.”
Like many of Sherborne’s
independent shops, Abbey Decor
scores high on customer service and
knowledge. If they don’t have
something they can usually order it for
you and if you’re struggling to get that
airing horse or long curtain pole home,
Brian will gladly drop it off for you!
42 Cheap St, Town Centre, Sherborne
DT9 3PX, 01935 814405
Left:
Jenny
Hann and
Brian Holt
of Abbey
Decor
dorsetmagazine.co.uk DORSET June 2013 25

SHERBORNE
Sherborne
Abbey
The Abbey
Shop
Thoughtful gifts
There are few more iconic sights
in Dorset than Sherborne Abbey
or to give its full title - the Abbey
Church of St Mary the Virgin. Set
in the glorious Abbey Close, its
gated entrance is adjacent to the
15th century St Johns’ Almshouse
and a pretty row of cottages
leading up to the kissing gates
and Sherborne Boys School
beyond.
One of these cottages is home
to Sherborne’s best kept secret –
the charming Abbey Shop
managed by local parishioner
Philip Prout and his team of
volunteers.
The Abbey Shop has been
trading for around 15 years and
stocks a range of thoughtful gifts
– especially for those milestone
occasions such as baptism,
birthdays and confirmation. You’ll
find a treasure trove of cards,
bibles and prayer books as well as
a comprehensive range of fiction
and non-fiction titles, including a
well-stocked children’s section.
Classical CD’s and DVD’s sit
alongside bookmarks, gifts and
lovely souvenirs of Sherborne
Abbey and best of all, any profits
are returned to the Abbey.
The Close, a few yards from the
entrance to Sherborne Abbey,
01935 815191
Philip Prout outside the Abbey Gift Shop
Vineyards
Wine Shop
Local tipples and fine
wines
Once Sherborne had three
wine shops, now it has one –
but what a wine shop it is.
Hannah Wilkins and Shelley
Norton, owners of Vineyards in
Digby Road, aren’t
complaining, since opening 8
years ago they have built a
loyal following.
Hannah, who is Sherborne
born and bred, loves the
community spirit of the town,
“It offers such an individual
mix of independent shops,
with a totally different
Shelley Norton and Hannah Wilkins, owners of Vineyards in Digby Road
experience to the average high
street. People are very focused
on supporting local businesses
and appreciate good service.”
Being independent means
Vineyards can support smaller
local makers and brands you
won’t find in supermarkets
“Sherborne offers
such an individual
mix of independent
shops, with a totally
different experience
to the average high
street”
such as Black Cow, the world’s
first pure milk vodka, made
from the milk of grass-grazed
cows on Jason Barber’s west
Dorset farm. There is also a
good range of local beers and
ciders and a great selection
from the Somerset Distillery.
Over the years Vineyards has
raised thousands of pounds for
charity, most notably Help for
Heroes, with their annual
Summer Wine Tasting. The
next event takes place on 17
July at Sherborne Boys School
in association with the Battens
Charitable Trust.
2 Tilton Court, Digby Road,
Sherbourne, DT9 3NL,
01935 815544
(vineyardsofsherborne.co.uk)
26 DORSET June 2013
dorsetmagazine.co.uk

Sherborne is a very
special place…with lots of
independent businesses,
beautiful architecture and
plenty of history
Edward Oliver working
on a piece of furniture
Edward Oliver outside his shop in Trendle Street
Edward Oliver
Vintage, recycled and
contemporary
Edward was ‘up-cycling’ in Sherborne long
before it became trendy. Following a stint as
a landscape gardener and furniture designer,
Edward opened his shop underneath the
arch in Trendle Street, in 2004. He says he
likes the ‘easy going’ way business is done in
Sherborne. When he’s not giving new life to
a neglected piece of furniture, Edward likes
to meet friends around the corner for a drink
in The Digby Tap.
“Sherborne is a very special place,” he
says. “It’s such an attractive town with lots
of independent businesses, beautiful
architecture and plenty of history.” And it’s
that history that inspires him to find and
restore older pieces of furniture to their
former glory, but always with a
contemporary twist.
Edward’s best sellers are his own
paintings, rustic farmhouse tables and
painted French dressers. You need to visit
often as the one-off pieces come and go -
from traditional furniture to kitsch 50’s
collectibles – it’s definitely a place to drop
by when you’re in town.
The Old Stables, Trendle Street, Sherborne,
DT9 3NT, 07947 468874
(edward-oliver.co.uk)
The Chocolate
Musketeer
Not many high streets can sustain an
independent chocolate shop but Sherborne
locals obviously have a sweet tooth (and good
taste). Gill Gunn’s gorgeous little shop in Cheap
Street has the most divine aroma…leading to an
inevitable purchase of Belgian handmade
chocolates or locally made House of Dorchester
chocolates. Candy sticks and sugar mice jostle
for space alongside marzipan fruits and in the
freezer is local Purbeck ice cream.
Visit at Christmas or Easter and you’ll be
overwhelmed by the choice - it’s definitely a
guilty pleasure to treasure.
16 Cheap Street, Sherborne DT9 3PX,
01935 815139 (thechocolatemusketeer.co.uk)
dorsetmagazine.co.uk DORSET June 2013 27

SHERBORNE
Winstone’s
For bookworms and cake lovers
There’s nothing better than a good read
with a cuppa and a slice of cake and
Sherborne’s newest bookshop, Winstone’s
is the place to fine both.
There was huge disappointment when
Sherborne’x previous independent
bookshop, Booklore in Hound Street, closed
last year. But this was followed by joy when
Wayne Winstone (ex-Director at Ottakars
and Waterstones) came to Sherborne and
opened up a bookshop in Cheap Street with
the ethos ‘love books, love reading’. Not
only that but he brought in Helen Stickland
(who used to manage Booklore) to provide
The Toy Box
The owners of this traditional
toy shop, Sharon and Mark
Horsman recently got married.
Five years ago the couple took
up residence in this quaint shop
at the very top of Cheap Street
and have now extended into
the adjoining shop; its rooms
are stocked to the rafters with
toys and games for all ages –
there’s even a sweetie shop as
you come in. What more could
a child (or grown-up) want
7 Cheap Street, Sherborne,
DT9 3PT 01935 817193
(thetoybox.uk.com)
Helen Stickland in Winstone’s book shop
a friendly and knowledgeable continuity for
booklovers in the town.
“Sherborne is a great place to have a
bookshop,” says Wayne. “It’s a fabulous
town, appreciative of books and reading
and supportive of its independent shops
too.”
Winstone’s is literally stuffed to the
rafters with more than 6000 titles covering
everything from fiction, history and
biography to travel, poetry and local
authors. Their children’s book area even
has a sofa and a rocking horse and is the
perfect setting for getting your young ones
into reading early.
8 Cheap St, Sherborne DT9 3PX,
01935 816128 (winstonebooks.co.uk)
Toy Box staff Mark Foot and Jenny Nicol with some furry friends
Margaret Balfour is proud to run a
Clarins Gold Salon
Margaret
Balfour
A little local
pampering
Margaret Balfour is one of
Sherborne’s oldest businesses –
only outdone by the generations
of family owners from Parsons
the Butcher and Oxfords Bakery.
Margaret first opened a beauty
salon in the town in 1979 and is
now a Clarins Gold Salon – an
accolade given to top
professionals in the country. At
her treatment rooms in Swan
Yard she offers a range of skin,
body, nail treatments and
complementary therapies.
Margaret likes the fact that there
are two excellent beauty colleges
locally offering a steady stream of
young therapist who can come
and work with her.
Living in the centre of town is a
bonus for Margaret and husband
Mike, who is Vice-President of the
Sherborne Douzelage (a local
group which promotes
educational, sporting, cultural and
employment links within Europe).
They enjoy the many places in
town to eat and drink where they
often meet up with friends.
“Sherborne was a perfect place to
raise our two sons,” says
Margaret, “now they are grown up
and left home we still enjoy living
and working here. We cannot
imagine being anywhere else.”
Swan Yard, Cheap Street,
Sherborne, DT9 3AX, 01935
816177 (margaretbalfour.co.uk)
dorsetmagazine.co.uk DORSET June 2013 29