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The Sherborne: Dorset mansion reopens as arts venue

BBC Baroque mural inside The SherborneBBC
The Sherborne is home to a Baroque mural by renowned artist Sir James Thornhill

A Georgian mansion has reopened after a three-year transformation to turn it into an arts venue.

Dorset's 18th Century Sherborne House, renamed The Sherborne, has undergone a multimillion-pound restoration project.

The first exhibition, Housework, celebrates the history of the house and its many links with the arts.

A Baroque mural by renowned artist Sir James Thornhill has been restored as part of the project and is on public display for the first time.

Robert Fry, chair of the trustees of The Sherborne, said the mural was "one of only three major works remaining [by the artist] - one of which is in St Paul's Cathedral... so we're in pretty distinguished company".

The Sherborne
The house is set to host live performances and workshops, and has a bar, bistro, shop and sculpture garden
The Sherborne Baroque mural inside The SherborneThe Sherborne
The mural has also been restored to its former glory

Sherborne House on Newland, Sherborne, dates to the 1720s and is owned by the Sherborne House Trust, which raised funds to restore the Grade I listed building.

For most of the 20th Century it was used as a school but, after laying empty for a number of years, it was placed on the English Heritage Buildings At Risk register.

Plans to turn the crumbling mansion into an arts venue were approved in 2021.

David Martin Sherborne House pictured from Paddock GardensDavid Martin
Sherborne House, now renamed The Sherborne, was previously used as a school
Google The Sherborne during restoration workGoogle
Work to restore the building and its grounds has taken three years

Mr Fry said the late Michael Cannon, who founded Sherborne House Trust and died last year, wanted The Sherborne to be "the best place it could possibly be".

He added: "Sherborne has a very diverse population - at one end there are lots of retired people here, bringing a certain amount of money, but there's also a lot of relative deprivation, and one thing that Michael was absolutely adamant about was that those two should mix together, there should be no difference in the welcome that's offered at The Sherborne."

Housework exhibition at The Sherborne
The first exhibition at The Sherborne, entitled Housework, celebrates the history of the house
The toilets in The Sherborne
The late founder of Sherborne House Trust, Michael Cannon, wanted the toilets to be "luxurious", The Sherborne said

The Dorset Visual Arts charity, which is based at the completed venue, said it had been "amazingly transformed".

"It will provide a wide range of opportunities for Dorset artists, as well as those from further afield, to create a regularly-changing exhibition, display and events programme," it added.

The house is also set to host live performances and workshops, and has a bar, bistro, shop and sculpture garden.

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