The Sherborne Country Market has officially closed down after 55 years of trading, consigning part of the town’s cultural fabric to history.


Producers have been selling their wares for the home and garden since the conception of the WI Market in 1966, boasting a country glut of vegetables, flowers and fruit, crafts and cakes from its Swan Yard venue.

The market soon became a thriving firm favourite in the country calendar, as hundreds of townsfolk and visitors would make a special trip every Thursday morning to fill their shopping bags with local produce and meet with friends.

Sherborne Country Market has navigated change over the last five decades and more, moving from Swan Yard to Sherborne Methodist school room and latterly, to the church hall in Digby Road. And in 2009 it changed its name from the WI Market to the Sherborne Country Market.

Founder member Jo Osment told the New Blackmore Vale it was ‘terribly sad’ the market has now closed. She added: “I have been with the market ever since it first started a month after I married, in June 1966. We are all getting older and there are so many rules and regulations that it is hard for older people to undertake. Also people’s shopping habits have changed over the years, and we found we could not continue.”

During the market’s heyday Jo said there were some 50 producers selling their wares at the weekly market.

Jo added: “Many producers and customers who have supported what was originally the WI Market, will all be very much missed.”

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