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like Wimborne Minster on a larger scale. In the 15th century 
great changes were made. the choir was taken down and 
rebuilt from the ground by Abbot Bradford (1436— 1459), the nave 
was restored, though much of the Norman wall was kept by 
Abbot Rampsham, or Ramson (1475 —1504). 1 0 these two we 
owe the present splendid fabric. 
Of all the institutions in Sherborne that one which has kept 
its dwelling place longest, which is to-day what it was before 
Wessex became one with England, is Sherborne School, d he 
old Castle is a ruin, the Almshouse dates only from the 15th 
century, the Abbey Church became the Parish Church only in 
1540; but the School began with the Cathedral in 705, it educated 
Stephen Harding in the 11th century, it lived through the storm 
of the dissolution of the Monastery in 1539 to get a charter and 
a new’ endowment from Edward VI. in 1550, and it still continues 
to flourish. 
Mr. Wildman took the party into the Great Hall, after which 
Sir William Watts showed several other of the buildings, including 
King Edward VI. dining hall, the library and museum. The 
library possesses the original accounts of the School Estates 
from 1553 to the present day and the Minute Book of the 
Governors from 1592 to the present day. There is a splendid 
collection of the great books of the 17th century, all in good 
condition, but the most precious are six volumes of music, 
published 1587—1593. No other library has these volumes. They 
are: (a) “ Ballets,” by Gastoldi, for five or six voices, the only 
complete copy known to exist. The British Museum has an old 
Canto part, and at Bergamo there is an alto part, (b) “Paradiso 
Musicale," a collection of Italian Madrigals, for five voices, 
published at Antwerp in 1596. There is also a copy of an Old 
and New Testament in a Red Indian dialect, which no one now 
understands, and a copy of Bedel’s Irish Old Testament, published 
in 1685. The oldest extant catalogue of the library is in MS. on 
parchment, dating from 1694. Down to the year 1725 all books in 
the library were chained to the shelves, except six, five of which 
are dictionaries, and the sixth “ A noble collection of Maps, gift 
of ye learned Th. Windham, Esq.” The marks of the chain 
rivets can still be seen, with the holes through the boards. 
In the museum is a remarkable fossil of the head of a 
Megalosaurus, said to be the only one in existence which has 
a nose. There is also a magnificent collection of Dorset fossils. 
The Abbey Church was next visited, under the guidance of 
the Verger. Time did not admit of a visit to the Almshouse, or 
to the ruins of the Castle. 
The party then adjourned to an excellent tea at Ford’s 
Restaurant, and afterwards left in brakes for Sturminster Newton 
in time for the 6.34 p.m. train for Bournemouth. 
