Listed Building record MDO13959 - Parish church of St Mary, Iwerne Stepleton

A parish church with walls of flint and rubble with some stone, covered with roughcast render, and a stone-slate and tiled roof. The earliest part of the building appears to be the chancel and nave, thought to have been built in the late eleventh or early twelfth century. The thickness of the walls of the chancel may indicate that it originally supported a tower. There are numerous later additions, most of nineteenth-century date. Largely refenestrated and vestry added in the 19th century. The record for this monument has been enhanced with support from Wessex Water.

(ST 86281124) St. Mary's Church (NAT) <1>

The parish church of St. Mary stands at the W. end of the parish and close to the R.Iwerne, which at this point is dammed up to form a lake. The walls are mainly rendered, but the N. wall of the nave has been exposed during recent repairs, showing it to be of flint and rubble with squared rubble dressings; the roofs are stone-slated and tiled. The Chancel and Nave are of the late 11th or early 12th century; from the thickness of the walls it appears probable that the chancel was originally surmounted by a tower. A blocked archway in the E. wall of the chancel presumably opened into a sanctuary, now demolished; according to Hutchins (I, 300) the foundations of a compartment to the E. were exposed at some time by excavation, but no details are known. Hutchins also refers to the discovery of eight narrow windows in the nave; one of them, a round-headed loop, has recently been rediscovered. <2>

Church of St Mary. Grade 2*. <3,4>

<1> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey map 1:10,560, 1962 (Map). SDO18658.

<2> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume III (Central) Part 1, 132 (Monograph). SDO146.

'(1) The Parish Church of St. Mary stands at the W. end of the parish and close to the R. Iwerne, which at this point is dammed up to form a lake. The walls are mainly rendered, but the N. wall of the nave has been exposed during recent repairs, showing it to be of flint and rubble with squared dressings; the roofs are stone-slated and tiled. The Chancel and Nave are of the late 11th or early 12th century; from the thickness of the walls it appears probable that the chancel was originally surmounted by a tower. A blocked archway in the E. wall of the chancel presumably opened into a sanctuary, now demolished; according to Hutchins (I, 300) the foundations of a compartment to the E. were exposed at some time by excavation, but no details are known. Hutchins also refers to the discovery of eight narrow windows in the nave; one of them, a round-headed loop, has recently been rediscovered.

Architectural Description – The Chancel (11½ ft. square) has in the E. wall a round-headed recess which was presumably the original sanctuary archway. The arch has a single order of plain voussoirs springing from chamfered imposts which are enriched with a pattern of small rectangles enclosing diagonal crosses and pearls. The decoration is original only on the imposts in the reveals of the archway; elsewhere it is of the 19th century, as is the similarly decorated label which outlines the arch. The ashlar responds are square and undecorated. The wall which closes the archway contains a restored 15th-century window of two cinquefoil-headed lights with a quatrefoil in a two-centred head. To the N. a round-headed opening with splayed reveals gives access to a modern vestry; to the S. is a modern two-light window with a splayed round-headed rear-arch; to the W. is a round-headed archway from the nave; all three openings are rendered. The Nave (30½ ft. by 18½ ft.) has an original round-headed loop set high up near the middle of the N. wall; to the E. is a 19th-century two-light window and to the W. is a 19th-century doorway with a four-centred head. The S. wall has similar 19th-century openings; any original openings that may survive are concealed by rendering. The W. wall has a 19th-century two-light window and, high up, a round-headed opening of uncertain date, now used as a bell-cote.'

<3> Newman, J, and Pevsner, N, 1972, The Buildings of England: Dorset, 241 (Monograph). SWX1290.

<4> DOE (HHR), 1985, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest: North Dorset District, June 1985, Vol 434, 59 (Scheduling record). SDO17732.

<5> English Heritage, 2005, Register of parks and gardens of special historic interest in England: Dorset (Revised), Part 12, Dorset (Monograph). SDO17438.

<6> Historic England, Historic England Archive, Object Number: BF051575, Object Title: St Marys Church, Iwerne Steepleton (Index). SDO14738.

<7> OP24581: A view of St Mary's Church, Iwerne Stepleton, from the south-west (Photograph). SDO18659.

<8> National Record of the Historic Environment, 206190 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Apr 16 2025 3:50PM