Sherborne Castle and Gardens

Raleigh’s house, the Digbys’ home

Sherborne Castle was built by Sir Walter Raleigh in 1594, and the Digby family have lived there since 1617. That year the diplomat Sir John Digby acquired the estate and added four wings to Raleigh’s building, giving the house its present H-shape. Inside, the collections include art, porcelain and furniture. The castle is open for a shorter season than the gardens, so check the visiting page before you travel.

A Capability Brown garden

The Grade I listed garden was one of Capability Brown’s first commissions, and it survives largely unaltered today. Lawns and specimen trees surround a 50 acre lake, which dates from 1753. The garden has champion trees, including cedars of Lebanon and an important ginkgo. The estate suggests two walks on its map: the Pleasure Grounds and Fossil House Walk, about 1.3 miles, and the Thatched Hut and Ginkgo Lawn Walk, about 1 mile. Paths are smooth gravel, and only the ground floor of the castle is accessible to wheelchair and scooter users.

Dogs, picnics and food

Dogs are welcome in the gardens on a short lead at all times, but not inside the castle apart from guide and assistance dogs. Picnic tables are marked on the garden map, and the Walled Garden Restaurant is a short walk from the visitor car park.

The Old Castle next door

Across the lake stands the Old Castle, a separate site run by English Heritage. For more than half its history it was a fortified palace of the bishops of Salisbury, and Sir Walter Raleigh leased it in Elizabethan times. It fell to Parliamentarian forces in 1645 after an 11 day siege. Dogs on leads are welcome there, and access is by a long gravel path and a bridge.

Getting there

From Sherborne station the walk takes about 10 minutes. The address is New Road, Sherborne, DT9 5NR. Prices and opening dates change through the year, so check them on the estate’s website.