Listed Building record MDO12929 - Church of St Rumbold, Cann, Salisbury Road, Shaftesbury

The Parish Church of St Rumbold is the parish church of the adjoining village of Cann, although now in Shaftesbury Borough. It has ashlar walls and a slate-covered roof. This church, now redundant, is first documented in 1280. Plan of West tower, nave and chancel in one, all rebuilt in 1840, and a North porch built after 1850. The earliest feature of the church is a font of circa 1200 which may indicate an earlier church, (this was transferred to St James Church in 1971, see MDO12914). Excavations have located the 13th century precursor, and both blocking of the Mediaeval aisles, and the presence of 14th and 15th century tiles suggest that the church was enlarged in the 14th and 15th centuries. Warwick Rodwell suggests that both the dedication, its position on the edge of Cranborne Chase, and its North-East/South-West orientation point to an 11th century Saxon origin, but there is no direct evidence for this. The record for this monument has been enhanced with support from Wessex Water.

(ST 8674 2273) St Rumbold's Church [NAT]. <1>

The Parish Church of St Rumbold is the parish church of Cann, although now in Shaftesbury Borough. <2>

Church of St Rumbold. 1840. Early English style incorporating the remains of an earlier church including a C12th font. Grade C. <3-4>

<1> Ordnance Survey, 1:2500 scale, 1965 (Map). SWX1197.

<2> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1972, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume IV (North), 65 (Monograph). SDO99.

‘(6) THE PARISH CHURCH OF ST. RUMBOLD, although situated in the borough of Shaftesbury, is the parish church of the adjoining village of Cann (see p. 9). It has ashlar walls and a slate-covered roof and comprises a combined Chancel and Nave, a West Tower and a small South Porch; these date from 1840. A Vestry and Organ Chamber were added on the N. of the chancel in 1909.
Architectural Description—The E. window is of three gradated lancet lights under a two-centred label. The N. and S. walls are approximately uniform and of six bays defined by plain two-stage buttresses; each bay has a lancet window with a label. The W. tower is without stages; at the top is a hollow-chamfered string-course and an embattled parapet. The W. doorway has a two-centred head; above it are three storeys of lancet windows, the topmost lancet being in the belfry; similar belfry windows occur in the N., S. and E. walls. The S. porch has a doorway similar to that of the W. tower; above the door-head is a hollow-chamfered string-course and a plain parapet. Inside, the W. bay of the nave has a gallery; the roof has tie-beam trusses with curved braces springing from shaped stone corbels.
Fittings—Font: (Plate 11) of stone, with circular bowl scribed with arcs for unfinished or painted decoration, shaft with reeded capital with flower and leaf enrichment in alternate scallops, and ovolo-moulded base with spur spandrels, c. 1200. Inscription: incised on side of font bowl, in a border, 'Iohn Monde Church worden 1664'. Monuments: In nave, (1) of Matthew Bowles, 1768, segmental-headed inscription-tablet with arms of Bowles, in architectural surround, with skull on apron, and urn finial above; (2) of Henrietta Bowles, 1795, and two infants, marble tablet surmounted by urn, with arms. In churchyard, S. of nave, (3) of Margaret Erle, 1807, Charles Bowles, 1837 and Sara Burlton, 1843, urn with scroll-work, on stone pedestal.
Plate: includes silver stand-paten with inscription of 1712, but no date-letter. Royal Arms: painted on wooden panel, arms of Queen Anne, with cypher AR.’

<3> Newman, J, and Pevsner, N, 1972, The Buildings of England: Dorset, 364 (Monograph). SWX1290.

<4> DOE (HHR), 1973, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest: North Dorset District, 79 (Scheduling record). SDO18623.

<5> National Record of the Historic Environment, 913579 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Jun 27 2023 2:57PM