Travel with Kevin and Ruth: What's a castle without a moat?

Thursday, September 29, 2022

What's a castle without a moat?

We had been to the town of Sherborne before... when we visited Helen and Tony way back in 1987. But that was 35 years ago! So we wanted to return.

Tony is still working this week, but Helen took us for a drive. Our first stop was the old castle ruins. We have a few photos from when we were there in 1987, and it probably hasn't changed at all, but we like castles.

As we walked up to the entrance gate, a man came out to greet us. He explained that there was an admission fee, and I jokingly asked if there was a discount for tourists. Not expecting him to say yes, he asked where we were from and it turns out they have an annual pass available for overseas visitors.

The property is run by English Heritage, a government charity organization that looks after over 400 historic properties in England. Most of them have admission fees. And it turns out that this pass also lets you into historic properties in Ireland and Scotland as well, and we are planning on taking Max to those countries next spring.

So we splurged on a joint annual pass for the two of us at £73.60 ($109 CAD, $79 USD).

Normally, we want to have a look at a lot of these historic properties but can't justify the admission fees so we don't bother going. But by having the pass, we can actually search out the properties.

Ruth and Helen at the entrance to Old Sherborne Castle.

Had we not bought the pass, it would have cost £14 for the two of us just to visit the Old Castle. And, he said that Helen would get in for free as well if we bought the pass.

The moat. What's a castle without a moat?

The remains of Old Sherborne Castle.

This is what they believe the castle looked like when it was built in 1140.

Zoomed in on nearby "New" Sherborne Castle.

Built by Sir Walter Raleigh in 1594, this is still a private family home.

A very neat tree!

Beautiful views of the surrounding countryside.

Looking back at the entrance gate.

The castle was destroyed during the English Civil War in 1650.

More countryside.

The entrance as seen from the moat.

We did the walk around the moat.

It was a good visit, and we think we appreciated it more than when were there with young children in 1987.

From there, we headed into town to see the ancient Sherborne Abbey. But first, we wandered around Pageant Gardens...

Well done tree carving.

Owl and woodpecker.

Beautiful park.

Sherborne Abbey.

The Almshouse.

The interior is magnificent.

Looking up!

This tomb dates to the 13th century.

And the beginnings of the Abbey itself date to the year 796, however the site has been occupied since Roman times. During the restoration 1849 to 1858, excavations were carried out in which part of a Roman Mosaic was found deep beneath the floor. The current structure was built between 1380 to 1500.

An interesting monument detailing a hailstorm in 1709.

The organ was installed in 1856.

Then we went for a walk up and down the main street...

Old windows.

A good way to repurpose a phone booth!

This building is old!

The structure on the left is called "the conduit".

We had a good day! In the evening, Helen and Tony's daughter Kelly and her boyfriend Wayne invited us all out for a meal at a restaurant where they have Wednesday steak night for £29.95 ($44 CAD, $32 USD) per couple including a bottle of wine! Good value. Thanks Kelly and Wayne!