Sherborne Antiques Market

Words Jo Denbury Photography Katharine Davies

Full disclosure here: I am a huge fan of clutter. Of course, I don’t see it as clutter, more a spread of ‘collections’ that I have built up over the years. There are the books, the mid-20th century chairs, the German ceramics… It was only last year when I squeezed in moving house between lockdowns that I realised that my obsessions were turning into a health hazard. The removal man lifted the final two heavy boxes into the van with a, ‘What’s in these then?’ and I replied, ‘Snow globes,’ and I knew, with a heavy heart that I should rein myself in. But you see those snow globes represent my life. I have bought one in every country I have visited. They cost very little yet each one brings back a place, a moment in time and that is the great thing about collecting. You can imagine my glee when I discovered Craig Wharton and Phillip Traves had taken over what was The Edinburgh Woollen Mill and turned it into Sherborne’s Antique Market; it offered a whole new world of potential, right on our doorstep. >

‘Everybody’s welcome here,’ says Phil. ‘People can come in with a fiver and go out with change, but equally there are some expensive items for sale,’ adds Craig. They have 42 dealers who sell in the market. Craig goes on, ’there are those who have been doing it for 50-60 years. Everyone brings something to it. It’s an antique market for so many people.’ Their youngest dealer is Tom Hurst – he’s 21 and a tribal specialist. Likewise, they also host experts Paul Atterbury (Antiques Roadshow), Tim Medhurst (Antiques Road Trip) and Debbie Serpell (Dickinson’s Real Deal).

The mood at the market is certainly convivial. Craig has made a big pot of tea and Evie, their Boston terrier joins us on the sofa. The potter Anna Stiles drops in with a box of homemade flapjacks, while customers and other dealers chip in for a chat. When I ask Craig and Phil what they would say is their USP, it’s another dealer who answers: ‘You make antiques accessible to everyone.’

You could take that literally. Craig’s mother recently passed away and was in a wheelchair at the end. It meant that when they were designing the layout of the market, accessibility was high in their mind. ‘We get mums and pushchairs and people with mobility issues and it was something Craig was very hot on from the day before we opened – we measured out the shop to ensure there was full mobility access,’ explains Phil. ‘The aisles are over one metre wide not the shop standard of 85cm,’ adds Craig.

I have a hunch that their backgrounds have played a huge part in the success of this new venture. ‘It was always an ambition to do this,’ explains Craig, ‘because although I flew [as an air steward] with an airline for 32 years, in the end I was always buying and selling. I have been in antiques since I was 14, and the secret here is the way we treat our dealers, our customers and the general public. 42 independent businesses are making a living out of being here and hopefully they are treated properly.’ Frankly, if you can manage the whims of demanding first-class passengers on a long-haul flight you can manage most things. I’ll leave you to ask Craig about Shirley Bassey.

Phil also comes from a service industry, albeit one closer to home. For more than 18 years he managed the Avenue Auctions at Duke’s auction house in Dorchester, where he was also their toy specialist. ‘The 18 years went quickly,’ Phil muses, ‘and I had a great time working there but it was time for a change. >

The lockdown made us think and I missed the restoration work that I used to do.’

‘We talked about opening a business together,’ explains Craig, ‘and The Edinburgh Woollen Mill came on the market. I wrote to the owner of the property, and she wrote back asking what we wanted to do with it. We got on well. She had had her fingers burned by a faceless organisation having the building and not doing any work to maintain it, so she said: You know what, I am going to take a step in the dark and go with you guys because you live in Sherborne.’

Transformation from clothing shop to antiques Mecca complete, the window display has since become a bit of a talking point in the town and is very much representative of what is happening inside. ‘When we opened, we painted the backdrop of the window display bright blue because we wanted to show that antiques can be used in a modern interior,’ says Craig. ‘We change the display every Monday,’ explains Phil. For February they will be celebrating the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. There is plenty of substance to back up the style too and they pride themselves on customer service. ‘Cheap Street is closed between 11am-4pm,’ says Craig, ‘and pedestrianised, which is great, but if a customer needs to collect a piece – such as a chair – we are happy to walk it round to their car. That’s just what we do.’

Both men came to collecting in a different way; Craig as a teenager who would bury himself in the antique and junk shops around his hometown of Cardiff. ‘I learned as much as I could but then I started

work with the airlines at 19 and as things progressed I went long-haul. It was the Far East that drew me. I would largely go to Bangkok and at the time, the 1940s and 1950s buildings were being knocked down. Items were just being left on the street – things like Art Deco light fittings – and I would pick them up and bring them back to the UK to sell. There was a market called the Chatuchak which had 30,000 stalls where you could find anything. But really it was history that drew me to antiques, the fact you could own a little bit of it.’ Eventually, his interests led him to becoming an antique dealer in Petworth.

‘I have always found things that survive interesting,’ says Phil. ‘Everyday things that shouldn’t have survived, for example packaging, such as wrappings or labels or original paper in drawers that go back 150 years. It’s rare survivors that interest me – it’s the historical worth not the value.’

So, what should we do if we want to get into collecting but don’t know where to start? ‘If you love it, grab it,’ says Craig without hesitation. ‘Always go for what you like – if you buy for profit, it will go wrong,’ adds Phil. What about buying antiques for a contemporary home? ‘Trust your inner self, trust your judgement and have the confidence to do it,’ says Craig. ‘Put it this way, the world of antiques has changed in the last few years because it is not necessarily purist anymore. Back in the day you would go for a George III chest of drawers and it had to be original with original handles etc but now it’s about the look. If it goes with your interior, go for it. I look for something that is decorative and current,’ he adds. ‘Just mix it with things,’ Phil says. ‘Totally eclectic,’ agrees Craig.

The word eclectic is also one you would choose on entering their home – an ancient property dating back to 1360 and a mere hop and a skip from the market. The interior walls, painted in Little Greene’s Bronze Red make for a striking welcome and provide an appropriate backdrop to a wealth of artefacts, from gilt-framed paintings to Lucite coffee tables. This extraordinary home exudes Phil and Craig's taste in collecting, one honed over many years.

On one shelf of a mammoth bookcase, housing a library of annuals and style bibles (and the odd mechanical toy), perches a collection of cards and photographs signed by Queen Mary. ‘They preserve a moment in time when that monarch has taken a pen and her hand has touched the card,’ says Craig, an example of his love for history. Upstairs I am shown Phil’s collection of bottles. ‘My first was an old gin bottle,’ remembers Phil. ‘My parents were in the pub – The Britannia in Parkstone – and I was in the garden. I dug up this old green gin bottle and after that I started collecting bottles and tins.‘

Phil and Craig discovered the house after a trip to Sherborne in 2020. ‘I said let’s pop to Sherborne – it’s like a mini-Bath but we can’t afford it. It was a boiling hot day and by coincidence we saw the house in an agent’s window, viewed it that day and liked it,’ explains Phil. Craig recalls, ‘We could see the potential. I lost my mum two and a half years ago and it was almost as though she was putting things in place for us. That’s how it felt.’

The house has been through many guises – from the Chapel of St Andrew in 1360 to the Bridewell from 1500-1798. It is brimming with character and has enough space for Phil and Craig to have their own workspaces. At the end of the garden there is, of course, an icehouse heated and lit only by flame – perfect for evening cocktails. In the garage I am introduced to Phil’s pride and joy.

‘It’s a 1956 Morris Minor Traveller, the last of the Series 2 split screens. I bought it in 1985 when I was 16,’ he says proudly. ‘I renovated it and it was used in the film A Murder of Quality which was shot in Sherborne in 1991, with Glenda Jackson in the lead role. Then I sold it and bought it back nine years later, it had had six different owners in that time,’ muses Phil, his eyes full of adoration. ‘Phil is the most talented man you will ever meet,’ says Craig. ‘He did all the car’s restoration and does all the restoring of our own items and furniture in the market.’

I ask if they have a favourite piece in the market and they’re hard pushed to answer: ‘I don’t really have time to go round and see what other people are selling,’ says Craig. ‘Good job,’ chips in Phil, ‘you’d bring it all home. You don’t like selling it do you?’ Craig admits to his addiction, adding with a wink, ‘I’ve been to Betty Ford to dry out.’ I am left wondering if she runs a clinic for snow globe addiction as we head back to the antiques market.

‘We’re very lucky to be living here,’ says Phil, nipping off to help a customer. ‘The town has such a lovely vibe and we’ve met so many friendly people.’ Craig offers a parting comment before getting back to work himself, ‘We’ve put down roots at last and what a fabulous town to do it.’