Sherborne Castle

We drove to Sherborne (New) Castle after breakfast for a stroll around the grounds. The castle was built for Sir Walter Raleigh in 1594 and he lived there with his wife Bess Throckmorton, one of Queen Elizabeth’s ladies in waiting, once the Queen had forgiven him for running off with Bess and let them both out of The Tower of London, until he fell out of favour with the new King James 1 and was imprisoned back in the Tower again.

James eventually had the castle taken away from Raleigh and gave it to the Digby family who have lived there ever since and had various extensions built on the original and the gardens landscaped by Capability Brown.

The blip of the castle and boat shed was taken not far away from Raleigh’s favourite seat in the garden, from where he could admire the view and keep an eye on the toll road that passed through his grounds. Legend has it that he was enjoying a pipe of the tobacco he’d recently brought back from the Americas on this seat when a servant brought him a mug of ale and, thinking his master was on fire, poured it over his head.

We enjoyed a tour of the Castle itself, which was closed due to lockdown the first time we visited, then enjoyed a pasty and a drink from the tea rooms. No one tried throwing the drink over us.