Listed Building record MDO10166 - Parish Church of St Pancras, Alton Pancras

Parish Church of St Pancras. The tower is C15th, but the rest of the church was entirely rebuilt in 1874-5. Chancel (1874) by Ewan Christian, nave (1975) by GR Crickmay. <1-2>

Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1908, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Antiquarian Field Club for 1907, lv-lvi-lvii (Serial). SDO17439.

On arriving at Alton, Major and Mrs. Saunders gave the party a hospitable welcome, and, on entering the church, the Vicar (the Rev. G. B. Southwell) read the following notes:-
This village must have been at one time a good deal larger and more important than it is now. Both in the valley and on the hills there appear traces of human habitations which no longer exist ; and the parish seems to have supported two prebendal stalls in Salisbury Cathedral, Alton Austral and Alton Boreal. The name Alton, the old town, indicates antiquity, as also does the dedication of the Church to St. Pancras, Pancrasius, who was born in Phrygia.
I have with me a sketch of the old chancel arch, which may possibly throw some light on the question of age ; the chancel appears to have been divided from the nave by a solid screen of masonry pierced by a small arch with apparently Norman mouldings and two hagioscopes ; but the abacus appears to indicate something older.
The earliest record that I am acquainted with is extracted from the " Miscellanea et Statuta quoad Sarum," in which the parishioners are reprimanded by the Dean of Salisbury for not having a fit and proper place over the altar for holding the reserved Sacrament, and are threatened with a fine of 6s. 8d. if they do not provide one before the next visitation. This is dated 10th April, 1483.
The next record is on the fly-leaf of one of the parish registers. It states that the church was repaired in 1736 by contributions from the Dean and Chapter of Sarum, the prebends of Alton Austral and Alton Boreal, and Thos. Haskett, Esq., Lord of the Manor ; and at the same time a gallery was given and built at Mr, Haskett' s sole expense. I remember seeing that gallery once. It was a huge affair extending from the belfry to the porch. In 1874, the whole church, with the exception of the tower, was pulled down and rebuilt.
The rebuilding was of a somewhat revolutionary character. The double piscina on the south side of the chancel was carefully preserved and is there still; but the chancel screen disappeared.
All we have left is an arch with dog-tooth mouldings, which has been built into the churchyard wall, and is supposed by some to be the old chancel arch. It does not quite tally with the one in the picture, but I cannot vouch for the accuracy of the picture.
With regard to Parish Registers, there are nine books in all. The earliest entry is in 1673. Most of the volumes are in a bad state, and many pages and parts of pages have been cut out.
Where the schoolroom now stands there used to be a cottage which was called "Parsonage," but there does not appear to have been any resident incumbent until the Rev. Robert Shittler came in 1842, and built the present Glebe house, and turned the old parsonage into a schoolroom. Robert Shittler was the author of a commentary on the Holy Scriptures. I have had letters from booksellers and book collectors asking whether any copy of the work exists in the parish or in the neighbourhood. But the book is quite unknown here.

<1> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume III (Central) Part 1, 1 (Monograph). SDO146.

<2> Newman, J, and Pevsner, N, 1972, The Buildings of England: Dorset, 75 (Monograph). SWX1290.

<3> Ordnance Survey, 1:2500 scale, 1978 (Map). SWX1197.

(ST 6988 0240). St Pancras' Church (NAT)

<4> English Heritage, 2006, Listed buildings data disk (Digital archive). SDO12545.

<5> 1999, The parish church of Alton St Pancras (Monograph). SDO18225.

<6> 1966, Alton St Pancras, Festival of Flowers (Monograph). SDO18224.

<7> National Record of the Historic Environment, 887317 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Jul 28 2025 10:52AM