Listed Building record MDO17166 - Parish Church of St Mary, Wareham Road, East Stoke

<1> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume II (South East) Part 2, 274 (Monograph). SDO149.

‘(1) THE PARISH CHURCH OF ST. MARY, stands on the S. side of the Wareham-Wool road. The walls are of coursed squared limestone rubble with dressings of the same stone; the nave roof is covered with slates with crested ridge, and the chancel roof is tiled. The Nave and West Tower were built in 1828 when the old church (2) was pulled down, the architect being T. E. Owen of Portsmouth (D.C.C., 24 July 1828); in 1885 a new Chancel was built, the Organ Chamber added and the nave ceiling and a W. gallery were removed; the Vestry is modern (1911). The date 1828 is recorded on a stone tablet on the inner side of the W. wall of the tower, under the W. window.

Architectural Description—The Chancel has in the N. wall one window with reset splays and head of 1828 and later tracery. The Nave (50 ft. by 31 ft.) is symmetrically designed with single-stage buttresses diagonally at the corners and between the windows, but the S.E. buttress has been removed to make way for the organ chamber. The windows in the N. and S. walls and flanking the tower arch in the W. wall are all uniform, of two cinque-foiled lights with a quatrefoil in a two-centred head. The West Tower (8 ft. by 7½ ft.) is of three storeys with a string-course at the level of the first floor on the W. elevation only and with three-stage diagonal buttresses and embattled parapet. The tower arch is segmental and of a single order. The W. doorway has a widely splayed two-centred head and continuous jambs. Over the doorway are two blank shields. Above the W. doorway is a window uniform with those in the nave and the belfry has in each wall a window of one trefoiled light.

Fittings (some from the old church (2))—Bells: two; 1st inscribed 'William Dobson of Downham Norfolk founded A.D. 1829'; 2nd inscribed 'William Lockier church warden Clemant Tosiear cast me in the year of 1698'. Bell-frame: of c. 1828, much restored. Coffin Stools: pair, with turned legs, 18th-century. Door: in W. doorway, two leaves divided into rectangular panels by moulded ribs, 1828. Font: bowl, hexagonal with straight tapered sides, 13th-century, restored, on modern stem with six free-standing shafts. Monuments: In nave—on E. wall, (1) to Sarah (Reynolds), wife of Thomas Witt of Woolbridge, 1814, and Thomas Witt, 1824, white marble sarcophagus-shaped tablet on grey marble backing surmounted by urn, signed Warren, Wareham; on S. wall, (2) to Leonora Sophia (Bond), wife of the Rev. William Buller, 1836, and another, white marble tablet flanked by canopied niches in the late Gothic style and with cresting above. Plate: includes cup of 1826 given by G. R. Robinson, M.P., 1829; paten of 1828; stand paten given by the Rev. Thos. Fox, brother of the incumbent, 1829; flagon, of silver plate, 1829. Scratchings: on ceiling beams below belfry, churchwardens' initials I.J. and R.R. dated 1829, also J.R.’

<2> Historic England, Historic England Archive, BF051591 (Index). SDO14738.

ST MARYS CHURCH, WAREHAM ROAD, EAST STOKE

<3> National Record of the Historic Environment, 526913 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Apr 16 2025 3:58PM