Editing Sherborne Abbey (section)

== History ==
This site has been occupied since Roman times. During the restoration of 1849–58, excavations were carried out in which part of a Roman mosaic pavement was found deep beneath the floor, as well as evidence that the Saxon cathedral of AD 705 had been built on the site of a previous church.<ref>{{Cite journal|date=19 August 1858|title=The Church History of Sherborne|url=https://www1.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000408/18580819/043/0007|journal=Dorset County Chronicle|pages=47}}</ref>

It is possible that there was a [[Celtic Christianity|Celtic Christian]] church called ''Lanprobi'' here as early as AD 658, when it was part of the Celtic kingdom of [[Dumnonia]],<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://greatenglishchurches.co.uk/html/sherborne_abbey.html|title=Sherborne Abbey|website=greatenglishchurches.co.uk|access-date=2018-12-30}}</ref> and Kenwalc or [[Cenwalh]], King of the West Saxons, is believed to be one of its founders.<ref name="Friendsbook">{{cite book|title=The Abbey Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Sherborne|last=The Friends of Sherborne Abbey|date=May 1959|publisher=Sawtells of Sherborne Ltd.|edition=12|location=[[Sherborne]] United Kingdom|type=Paperback}}</ref> However, it is probable that this church was actually on the site of modern-day [[Castleton, Dorset|Castleton]] Church.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Grimmer|first=Martin|title=British Christianity Continuity in Anglo-Saxon England: the Case of Sherborne/Lanprobi|year=2005}}</ref>

=== Cathedral (705–1075) and abbey (998–1539) ===
The Saxon Diocese of Sherborne was founded in 705 by King [[Ine of Wessex]] to relieve pressure from the growing [[Episcopal_see|see]] of Winchester.<ref name=":0" /> He set [[Aldhelm]] as first [[bishop]] of the see of Western [[Wessex]], covering [[Dorset]], [[Somerset]], [[Devon]], with his seat at Sherborne. Aldhelm was the first of 27 [[Bishop of Salisbury#List of bishops|bishops of Sherborne]].<ref name="Friendsbook" /><ref name="cat enc">{{cite CE1913|wstitle= Sherborne Abbey | |volume= 13 |last= Alston |first= Cyprian |short=1}}</ref> Cornwall was added to the diocese at the end of the ninth century, but in 909 the diocese was divided in three to create the new bishoprics of [[Bishop of Wells|Wells]], covering Somerset, and [[Bishop of Crediton (ancient)|Crediton]], covering Devon and Cornwall, leaving Sherborne with Dorset.

The twentieth bishop was [[Wulfsige III]] (or St. Wulfsin). In 998 he established a Benedictine abbey at Sherborne and became its first abbot. In 1058, the Sherborne [[Cathedral chapter|chapter]] elected [[Herman (bishop of Salisbury)|Herman]], [[Diocese of Ramsbury|Bishop of Ramsbury]], to be also Bishop of Sherborne. In 1075, Herman unified his two bishoprics into a single see with its seat at [[Old Sarum Cathedral|Old Sarum]], so Sherborne remained an abbey church but was no longer a cathedral. The bishop (in Old Sarum) remained the nominal head of the abbey until 1122, when [[Roger de Caen]], [[Bishop of Salisbury]], made the abbey independent.

From 1122 until dissolution, [[Horton Priory]] (founded as a Benedictine abbey in 961, but reduced to priory status when the bishopric moved) was dependent on Sherborne. Also, [[Kidwelly Priory]] (later abbey) in Wales was made a cell of Sherborne Abbey, which was at that time a cathedral priory, c.1110 and was dissolved at the same time as its mother-house.

=== Parish church ===
The Benedictine foundation at Sherborne ended in the [[dissolution of the monasteries]] in 1539, when the abbey was surrendered to King [[Henry VIII of England|Henry VIII]]. Various properties at Sherborne were bought from the king by [[John Horsey (died 1546)|Sir John Horsey]], who then sold the abbey to the people of Sherborne, who bought the building to be their parish church (as people of many other places did), which it still is. The original parish church alongside the abbey was demolished, although the foundations are still visible. In 1550, King [[Edward VI of England|Edward VI]] issued a new charter to the school that had existed at Sherborne since 705, and some of the remaining abbey buildings were turned over to it.