XX111. 



Chapel was built in the 13th century, about the same time as Salisbury 

 Cathedral, and probably, from the resemblance of the mouldings in the 

 two, by the same person. At the end of the 14th century the Church of 

 All Hallows was built adjoining the \vest end of the Abbey. The Vicars 

 of this Church were appointed by the Abbots, who as Rectors held the 

 great tithes. A dispute, arising between the Vicars and Abbot, led to a 

 riot, during which a burning arrow was shot into the thatched roof of the 

 choir, which was ignited and consumed. The walls of the choir and 

 tower still showed the marks of this conflagration. Abbot Bradford set 

 to work to rebuild the whole church on the style of his new choir, leaving 

 some of the old burnt stones as witnesses of the harm which had been 

 done, and on some of the bosses were carved representations of the 

 burning arrow. After the death of Abbot Bradford, the old Norman 

 clerestory was pulletl down. In 1475 Abbot Ramsam actively pushed 

 forward Bradford's plans for the nave. Ramsam died in 1504, and in 

 little more than 30 years after, the last Abbot, John Barnstaple, 

 surrendered the Abbey to the Crown on the dissolution of the Monasteries, 

 and it was then granted to Sir John Horsey, of Clifton May bank. All 

 Hallows Church at that time was in a very ruinous condition ; the 

 parishioners sold the roof and the aisles, and by bargaining with Sir John, 

 bought of him by degrees the nearly new Abbey Church and part of the 

 contiguous buildings for the princely sum of 230 ; and it was a curious 

 fact that the lawyer's bill for drawing up the necessary agreements only 

 amounted to 14 pence. The windows in the choir in the time of Hutchins 

 were described as fitted with heraldic glass ; this had been removed. In 

 1848 repairs were commenced on the tower, nave, transepts, the south 

 porch, and alterations of the west window. A sum of 4,000 was spent 

 on the fabric. In 1856 Mr. George Wingfield Digby, of Sherborne 

 Castle, restored the choir at his os\n expense as a memorial to his uncle, 

 Earl Digby. On leaving the west door of the Abbey the curious 

 fragments of buttresses were noticed, which protruded from the wall, and 

 which originally pertained to the contiguous All Hallows Church. The 

 mural tablet to the memory of Benjamin Vowell, his wives and daughters, 

 on this external wall also attracted attention. The Rev. C. H. Mayo 

 read extracts from an old deed, which showed that an ancestor of the 

 Vowell family there buried was embroiled in the disturbance in which the 

 roof and the choir were burnt. The conduit was next visited, which was 

 stated by the Head-Master of Sherborne School to belong to the Governors 

 of the School. It once stood in the Benedictine quadrangle of the 

 Monastery ; there it was supplied with water by the Newell stream. At 

 the present its water came from a copious fountain at Kennel Barton. 



