The following extracts are taken from "Sherborne - A Cotswold Village" By Sybil Longhurst, Walter Tufnell (d.) and Alice Tufnell. ISBN 0 7509 0081 4.
Published by Sutton Publishing Limited to whom acknowledgement is given for permission to quote.

Page 59: "Sherborne House, home to the Dutton family until the middle of the twentieth century, was the seat of the lord of the manor. At the start of the Second World War, when the Duttons moved to smaller premises, namely the Windrush Manor and Lodge Park near Aldsworth, the house was taken over by units of the British and American armies.

Then from 1947, until 1966, Sherborne House was the home to Kings School, a private school for boys with Mr. Mosey as headmaster.

For five years the house remained empty until, in 1970, it was bought to be used by the Foundation of the International Academy for Continuous Education, with Mr. Bennett as principal. A few years later a religious group called the Beshara Trust took up residence and in 1981, the house was sold to a company for conversion into luxury apartments."

Page 101: "When the military vacated Sherborne House at the end of the Second World War, several local women were employed to clean the house in preparation for occupancy by the staff and pupils of Kings School. The water used for this cleaning was heated in the laundry coppers and carried to the house. Due to the size of Sherborne House, as it contained several staircases and innumerable corridors and rooms, Mary Holtham informed me that the ladies would mark their way around using chalk, for fear of getting lost."

On occupation of the house, byKing's School, the laundry ladies undertook the extra responsibility of washing the boys' socks! The bed linen and other items of clothing were sent to a local laundry."

Page 154: "During the period when Sherborne House was occupied as Kings School, some of the boys, on certain days of the week and only at specified times of the day, were allowed down to the shop to spend their pocket money. However, the odd 'escapee' could turn up at any hour!"