All Saints'
All Saints' Church, Monk Sherborne
All Saints’ dates from the late 11th Century. William I gave his followers many lordships of the land they had helped him to conquer. Hugh de Port’s distinguished service in the Battle of Hastings was rewarded by the gift of large estates in the northern part of Hampshire. He established his baronial court at Basing. Later in life he became a monk and entered a cloister at Winchester, where he died in 1096. His estate included two shires, or shers, on either side of a brook, or burn. They were known as East Sherborne (sireburn) and West Sherborne. [The normal etymology for Sherborne is given as deriving from scir (clear) burne (stream)]
Hugh de Port’s son, Henry, built the Priory at Pamber. It was consecrated by the Bishop of Winchester, William de Giffard (1100-29), in the year 1110 as a cell of the Monastery of St Vigor at Cerisy in Normandy. In the original charter, Henry de Port gave the advowson of All Saints, West Sherborne, to the Prior and Monks of Pamber. It follows, therefore, that All Saints' is older than the Priory.
Henry de Port’s grandson married an heiress of the St John family, and through her inheritance the family name was changed to St John. East Sherborne became Sherborne St John and West Sherborne became Monk Sherborne.
War with France and the Black Death dealt harshly with the Monks, and in 1461 Edward IV gave the Priory to the Hospital of St Julian, or God’s House, at Southampton. As Edward III had granted this to The Queen’s College, Oxford, the advowson automatically passed to the Provost and Fellows of the College, in whose gift the living still remains.
The large Chancel arch and the Roman arch over the north door date from about 1140, but the walls of the nave are older, as the arch over the door cuts into a space once filled by a window above and to the west of the door. Traces can also be seen, on either side of the altar, of another Roman arch, which shows that at one time there was a sanctuary, or apse, beyond the Altar. This was filled in and the present east window set in its place during the 14th Century.
It was probably during the Reformation that paintings were removed from the walls. Faint scraps of red paint may still be seen over the door.
The pulpit was given by the Vicar, John Dobson, in 1651.
The church was restored in 1852 by the Vicar, Septimus Bellas, who also built the Priory School. He repaired the roof, removed a gallery and built the vestry. At this time the brick floor of the chancel over the Deane vault was moved to a position outside the church, and the present oak floor was laid down in the chancel.
A further restoration was carried out by another Vicar, Canon Willes, in 1887. The 15th Century chancel screen was lengthened, the 13th Century font was given a new base, and the chancel roof was panelled. The organ and a brass lectern were installed. Communion plate was given by Colonel Bickerstaffe, and an alms dish by Mrs Lukin. The glass in the east window was given in memory of Canon Willes.
The window beside the pulpit was given in memory of a later Vicar, John Robertson.
The Altar rails were given by Harold Cowan in gratitude for his safe return from the 1914-18 War.
The roof was stripped and re-tiled in 1940.
The present oak lectern was given by the Vicar, Edward John Bolus, in 1943, in memory of his wife. The brass lectern it replaced was given to Tadley.
Electric light was installed in 1956.
In 1968, the chancel screen was moved to the west end of the nave, the church was redecorated and the lighting improved.
When the chancel floor was altered in 1887, two brass tablets, now on the north wall, were found underneath the old choir stalls. One carries the inscription “Here lyes expecting ye second coming of our saviour ye body of William Dobson a painful servant of God and sometime rector of this parish who exchanged earth for Heaven the first March anno domini 1653”.
The other records the bequest by Thomas Symson of “fifteen pounds yearly so long as the world shall endure” to be divided between the poor of Sherborne St John, Monk Sherborne, Wootton St Lawrence, Baughurst, Pamber and Tadley”. It is dated 1674 in the 26th year of the reign of Charles II. This ignores the Commonwealth and assumes that Charles II’s reign began with the death of Charles I in 1649.
One of the oldest ornaments in the Church is the 12th Century piscine which now stands in the vestry.
The north door has unusual wrought iron strap hinges of late 14th Century date worked into fleur de lis.
Outside the church there is an Early English Mass Clock, or Scratch Dial, at the angle of the chancel and vestry walls.
The north porch is 14th Century woodwork.
The tower contains five bells. The treble, second and fourth were cast by G Mears & Co, in 1862, and the third by Henry Knight in 1595. The fifth bears the date 1653, but has no maker’s mark or inscription. These two bells were returned and rehung in 1852. The whole peal was re-furbished in 1927, and again in 2014.
The clock was given by Richard Benyon in 1852. It is recorded that in 1876, the then Vicar found the clock would never go, and spent two days cleaning and oiling it with some success, but the task of winding the clock has never proved easy, and it has continued to need frequent attention.
In the Churchyard is the base of an old Churchyard Cross.
The gate into the Churchyard was given in memory of John Larminie, Churchwarden from 1939 to 1958.
The Parish Registers date from 1618.