PLANS have been revealed to transform Sherborne Abbey – making it fit for the 21st century.

In what is the first real building development at Sherborne Abbey for 100 years, Team Rector Reverend Martin Lee, has revealed plans to improve the Abbey for the congregation, community, visiting choirs and performers, schools, and visitors.

Plans include converting the existing ground and first-floor vestries to a dedicated two-storey toilet facility; creating a new vestry in the north transept under the organ loft; designing a permanent but discreet hospitality area for events and services within The Lady Chapel area; and generally improving accessibility, and wheelchair access, throughout the Abbey.

The new, purpose-built, single-level vestry, which is not only used for robing and preparation by clergy and servers but is also vital to the day-to-day running of the Abbey, will be designed with full consideration to its historic setting, the Abbey said.

Rev Lee said: “Improvements to ‘comfort’ at the Abbey are long-overdue, and it was one of my promises, as the new Rector of Sherborne Abbey, to prioritise this work and to make the Abbey an even more welcoming and accessible place to work and visit.

“These proposals represent the most significant improvement to facilities at the Abbey since the recovery of The Lady Chapel in the 1920s, and I hope they will be welcomed by the local community and visitors alike.”

The plans have been prepared by the Abbey’s inspecting architect, Marcus Chantrey of Benjamin + Beauchamp Architects.

They are available to view in The Ambulatory at Sherborne Abbey during normal Abbey opening times.

For more details, visit www.sherborneabbey.com.
Meanwhile, the Diocesan Advisory Committee and other amenity bodies have also been invited to comment on the scheme.