I was unable to attend the cricket match last weekend on the lawn in front of Sherborne House, but I understand it was very well attended, supported, and a great community event. Well done to all, especially Ed Richardson and Jonathan Benson for organising, and to the House residents for
If you had stood beside Sherborne Brook on a June morning in the year 1250, you would scarcely have recognised the village. Our peaceful brook would have been alive with noise. Droves of sheep stretched across the hillsides, arriving from every direction. Some belonged to the monks of Winchcombe Abbey,
Step by step, I've been uncovering the geometric designs of Lodge Park, and in my last blog I showed how Charles Bridgeman had utilised a summer solstice line in the building of a geometric landscape structure at Lodge Park. That structure seems to have 880 yards as a
In my last post about Lodge Park, I promised to explain the link between Charles Bridgeman, his 1729 design at Lodge Park and the summer solstice. On Midsummer's Day last week I measured the midsummer sunrise at Lodge Park and pinned the solstice line with a theodolite app
Thanks to supporters of the Brook Group for putting me in touch with the Waterlife Recovery Trust. This group is running a national campaign to remove invasive mink from the countryside. Mink are an invasive species and can cause devastation to a lot of wild fowl stocks, water voles and
This morning it was the summer solstice sunrise, and as I did last year, I obtained permission to enter Lodge Park and to view the solstice as it rose over the long barrow, framed between the two ancient 500-year-old oak trees. I took some careful measurements using a
Okay, I'm exaggerating. I admit it.But there's something really interesting going on. I was encouraged to post this story by reading a press report this morning at this link, describing the discovery of some prehistoric features aligned to the summer solstice sunrise, and of course
Biodiversity Net Gain has been generating quiet interest in Sherborne for some time. The parish council minutes have carried references to it since September 2024. Earlier this year, the Gloucestershire Local Nature Partnership sent its members a newsletter announcing the first registered BNG site in the county. I wrote a
This is another YouTube video where I discuss some of the implications of the landscape design involving two lakes at Lodge Park. I think there are some important implications to what the close examination of the archives reveals. As a reminder the lower weir in Sherborne has 18th C masonry
Sometimes Sherborne hides its most special secrets, but they are hidden in plain view. The triangle of grass as you enter the village is one such special spot. Here's a short video explaining. I'm in the early stages of getting my head around posting videos and
My last couple of posts have involved YouTube videos where I provide a commentary on some PowerPoint presentations on the history of the local area. If I'm honest, I was a bit embarrassed by the quality of my speech, with a lot of ums and ahs and errs,
In this presentation I discuss some conjectures about the lay out of Lodge Park 100 years before Bridgeman arrived on the scene.