Listed Building record MDO13327 - St Mary's church, Tarrant Hinton

Standing in the N. of the village. With walls, partly of ashlar and partly of squared greensand rubble with flint banding and ashlar dressings; the roofs are lead-covered.

The earliest parts of the present church of Saint Mary are the 14th nave and its south arcade, but carved stone fragments re-set in the south wall of the aisle indicate a 12th century church. The chancel arch and the west tower are 15th century.

The Easter Sepulchre, carrying the initials of Thomas Weaver, rector 1514-36, is one of the most important monuments in North Dorset, and an early example of the conversion to the Italian Renaissance. <2-3>

Additional information on the church fittings, not listed in RCHM Dorset 4. The north chapel, dated to 1515, is the earliest exampleof full-blown ecclesiastical renaissance architecture in Dorset. <4>

Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1909, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Antiquarian Field Club for 1909, lvii (Serial). SDO20.

At Tarrant Hinton Church the RECTOR, the Rev. E. J. Heriz Smith, received the party and pointed out the chief features of the building, which is of the Perpendicular style.
Of an earlier structure there remain fragments of Norman zigzag moulding, built into the wall over the south door, and a fine Norman font of dark –brown ironstone, with square bowl supported by a central stem and four slender shafts, and its sides adorned with a shallowly -carved arcading. There is the piscina of a side altar, a hagioscope, and altar rails, the undoubted work of Grinling Gibbons, as they came from Pembroke College Chapel, which he was employed to adorn with his carving. Of the three bells, said the Rector, one is of the date 1450, as could be proved by the marks it bears of the Shaftesbury bell founders. One of the most noticeable features of the church is the richly-carved Easter sepulchre, of Renaissance feeling, built in 1520 by the then Rector, Thomas Trotwell or Weaver.

<1> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1963 (Map). SWX1540.

(ST 93621115) Church (NAT)

<2> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1972, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume IV (North), 96-98 (Monograph). SDO99.

'(1) THE PARISH CHURCH OF ST. MARY stands in the N. of the village. The walls are partly of ashlar and partly of squared Greensand rubble with flint banding and ashlar dressings; the roofs are lead-covered (Plates 4, 75). The font and some carved stone fragments reset in the S. wall of the aisle indicate a 12th century church; the earliest part of the present building, however, is the 14th century Nave and its S. arcade. The Chancel Arch and the West Tower are of the 15th century. Later in the 15th century the nave roof was raised and a clearstorey was inserted, the South Aisle was rebuilt, and the South Porch was built. In the first half of the 16th century the North Chapel was added, together with an Easter Sepulchre on the N. of the chancel. At an unknown date, perhaps early in the 19th century, the easternmost bay of the N. chapel was removed and the present E. wall was built. In 1874 the church was reroofed and the chancel was largely rebuilt under the direction of Benjamin Ferrey.- The S. doorway is of 1892.
The Easter Sepulchre (Plates 76,77) is one of the most important monuments in North Dorset. The initials of Thomas Weaver, rector 1514-36, are incorporated in the design. Hutchins (I, 316) assigns it to the year 1515, but gives no authority; stylistically it appears to be somewhat later, perhaps of c.1536. ...'

<3> Newman, J, and Pevsner, N, 1972, The Buildings of England: Dorset, 417 (Monograph). SWX1290.

<4> Royal Archaeological Institute, 1983, Archaeological Journal 140, 42 (Serial). SDO16977.

<5> National Record of the Historic Environment, 210286 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Aug 4 2025 3:26PM