Listed Building record MDO17221 - Chapel of St Mary, Charborough, Morden

Former parish church of Saint Mary, Charborough. Gothic style private chapel in Charborough Park, constructed in 1775 and remodelled in 1837. It is built on the site of the 13th parish church. The vault under the church was enlarged in 1752, locating eleven inhumations. The church is simply a rectangle with nave and chancel under one roof. At the west end a small open porch shelters the only door and on the gable is a small bellcote. The walls are built with brick and faced with stucco, with limestone dressings. The roof is slate with a battlemented parapet.

The private chapel of St. Mary, Charborough Park is a Gothic-style structure built by Thomas Erle Drax in 1775 and remodelled in 1837. The walls are stucco-faced with limestone dressings. The chapel stands on the site of the former parish church of Charborough which stood here from at least the 13th century and presumably became redundant when the Medieval settlement (see SY 99 NW 15) was deserted. Hutchins (1774) stated that when the vault under the church floor was enlarged in 1752, twenty two "pots of reddish earth, 11ins. by 9, like butter pots" were found at a depth of 2 feet. All were empty, but they were supposed to have been deposited here in the Civil War, by Sir Walter Erle, to conceal his money, plate and writings. Under these pots were the bones of eleven skeletons. Hutchins adds that there were no signs of a church yard enclosure although other human bones had been dug up around the church. <1> <3> <4>

<1> Shipp, W (ed), 1868, The History and Antiquities of the County of Dorset. 3rd edition. Volume 3, 506 (Monograph). SWX3207.

<2> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1902 (Map). SWX1540.

(SY 92519795) Church (NAT)

<3> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1972, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume IV (North), 161-63 (Monograph). SDO99.

<4> Newman, J, and Pevsner, N, 1972, The Buildings of England: Dorset, 140 (Monograph). SWX1290.

<5> Historic England, Historic England Archive, BF051578 (Index). SDO14738.

CHAPEL OF ST MARY, MORDEN

<6> National Record of the Historic Environment, 457332 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Apr 16 2025 4:06PM