Sherington has always been a working village and has had many businesses thrive and flourish.
Virginia House Stores, now a well stocked general store. This for the past century or so has been mainly a general shop, but for several years around the 1980s was a thriving antiques shop and pine stripping business. The “Small” barn at the rear, that is now a tasteful bungalow, was where the pine stripping was carried out at that time. This building has also been a slaughterhouse, when the shop was a butchers.
Peter Gardner, Gunsmith in Water Lane at the rear of Water Lane Farm, is a high class firearms restoration company. It has its own shooting range, the Sherington Shooting Centre, in a field down by the river, and also runs a shooting club and a teaching school for beginners.
Smith’s Yard. This houses numerous small businesses, including motor vehicle restorations, car repairs and a long established high-class antique furniture restoration business.
Smiths’ Haulage. A general haulage and transport company founded by C.H. Smith in 1914-15 in Hartwell and moved to Sherington. After his retirement, run for many years by his sons.
The Village Post Office and General Store, again, long established. Has been run at times by various village families.
A Victorian Corner Shop, now sadly closed. Open since the turn of the last century and was for many years a sweet shop, then a shop that sold dry goods, an antique shop into the late 1980s and finally an antique clock repair shop, that closed in 1992 after 10 years of trading.
The Crown and Castle, now de-licensed and a private dwelling now known as the ‘Old Castle’. This closed in the late 1960s. The landlord of the Crown was well known for the quality of his pork as a pig breeder. The Oakley hunt would meet outside of this house.
The Blacksmiths Shop, next to the Crown and Castle, run by Mr Groom as a thriving business up until the mid-1920s.
Rogers Agricultural Engineers on the site of the blacksmith’s yard, this company served the village well by employing and being run by a local labour force. During the boom years of the 1960s and ’70s was a thriving company that served the local farming community well but unfortunately suffered the fate of a lot of agricultural related businesses and was bought out, asset stripped and was closed. There are four houses on the site now forming a small cul-de-sac named Maryot Close.
Hickson’s Butchers Shop, from the end of the 1800s this was the site of a thriving butchers and smallholding, the front room of this fairly large house was the shop and signs of the front door and shop window are still visible. The house and grounds in the post-war period was owned by an ex-Italian POW, who ran it for some years producing fruit and vegetables for the local shops and villagers.
Home Farm. Owned by the Fleet family well known as horse traders. George Fleet the last owner, latterly turned to cattle then sheep, also supplied the locals with milk and dairy products as their dairyman. He also supplied the schoolchildren with milk when that was introduced in the 1930s. Not now run as a farm.
George Hine, the Sherington wheelwright and coach and cart maker, he was practising his trade from the late 1800s until when he closed down in the early 1940s, when he retired to live in Market Harborough with his daughter.
The Haynes Family, The corner site of Hine’s wheelwrights was purchased by the Haynes family who built a garage with petrol pumps etc. on this prominent corner in the late 1930s, then established a thriving haulage company post-war, with a further large garage for their heavier fleet of lorries. This company is still operating at this time.
T.L. Engineering housed inside the main building of Haynes Haulage is a small light general engineers.
Mitrechoice housed in a large workshop over the original garage is a heating and ducting sheet metal works. All of these companies employ in the main, local labour.
Line’s Woodyard. Once a thriving family timber yard, with the saws being driven by a stationery steam engine. Several photos of this business. The family being sawyers since the mid-1800s.
Church Farm. Run for generations by the Field family besides being general farmers, advertised as being maltsters. With their own malting sheds. Not now run as a farm.
The Royal Oak, closed in the early 1920s now de-licensed and is now a private dwelling.
The White Hart. In Gun Lane, probably the oldest Inn in the village. There was an attempt to close this public house, but public opinion forced the issue and it is now a thriving community asset.
Sherington School. The old school house built in the late 1800s in School Lane was condemned and closed in the 1950s. But the building was sold off and restored and for many years thrived as a paper shop and a SPAR general store. This is now a private dwelling.
Sherington Nursery (Bernard Crook & Sons). There has been a plant nursery on the site for probably the best part of a century. Now run by two brothers.
Alban Hill Nursery. Sited at the top of Cross Albans hill, close to where the old turnpike toll-house was sited, this is a newly established and thriving plant nursery.
Winnowing Barn. Converted from the old barns of Bakers Farm (or Church End Farm) to form a small industrial unit, now more of an office complex.
Manor Farm Courtyard. Several redundant barns and cow-sheds converted and re-built to form several office units and some domestic rented accommodation. The farm is still very much a thriving farm and business.
Meadow Farm. A smallholding supporting a few cows, chickens and sheep. Now sadly running down, due to the death of the owner.
Charlesberry Kennels is situated near Sherington Bridge. It was started over 50 years ago by Mrs Charles Bull who bred Pembroke Corgis which won the ‘Crufts’ Dog Show. Their own website describes their history and has several old photos.
There are many more private businesses run from within the village. There are several extremely competent artists, a doctor and a veterinary, a children’s pre-school group. A couple of plumbers and heating engineers, two small building companies, a canal narrowboat fitting out company, an electrical business, a new catering company. This is not a comprehensive list, altogether a very lively and thriving community.