Dorset Grade I Listed Building To Become Arts Centre

The future of a historic Grade I listed building has been secured as an application to turn the 18th-century manor house into an arts hub for the region has been approved.

Sherborne House, based in Newland in Dorset, has awaited approval to start work for over eight months on converting the grounds into a multi-use arts and cultural centre, with function, events, exhibition and office space, as well as an on-site restaurant.

Its approval allows for the Grade I building, part of Historic England’s at-risk list, to finally receive a listed building restoration and repair that can bring the site back to its former glory.

Sherborne House was last used in 1992 as Lord Digby’s School for Girls, but after they moved out the building lay empty and becoming increasingly derelict.

It was the subject of the BBC series Restoration in 2004 where it reached the finals but ultimately was unsuccessful in its attempt at getting the £3m Heritage Lottery Grant.

After this, the situation became increasingly dire, as the murals painted by Sir James Thornhill were suffering from water damage as a result of roofing problems.

The first sign of a way out for the house came when the first plans to turn Sherborne House into an arts centre were announced in 2011, and a year later restoration work was carried out on Thornhill’s mural.

It took until 2018 for the property to be bought by Sherborne House Trust, which operated under the sole aim to convert the property into an arts centre and allow public access to the historic mural as well as establishing a new cultural tradition in Dorset.