Listed Building record MDO1809 - Parish church of St Osmund, Osmington

Parish Church. 15th century west tower. Most of the rest of the church rebuilt in 1846, retaining the medieval chancel arch and north arcade. Goodhart- Rendel ascribed the design to Benjamin Ferrey. Coursed and squared rubblestone walls. Arcaded nave, chancel, west tower and south porch.

Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1904, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Antiquarian Field Club for 1904, xxxix (Serial). SDO17.

… where they were received by the Vicar, the Rev. J. F. Jones, who conducted them over the church. He called especial attention to the ancient monument on the north side of the chancel, rudely carved with the Arms of Wareham (including three scallop shells, the badge of the Palmers), and with a quaint didactic inscription, in which some moralist of old, musing over the mystery of human life, thus described it :
Man's life.
Man is a glas : life is a water : thus weakly walled about : sinne brings
in death : death breakes the glass : so runs the water out : finis.
Mr. JONES stated that Sir James Philipps, son of the Vicar of that parish for 40 years, and Vicar at the time that the church was built, told him six or eight months ago that this monument, with its quaint inscription and rude carving, was replaced in the rebuilt church in exactly the same position in which it was found in the old church.
Mr. W. MILES BARNES stated that the only portions of the ancient church remaining were the north arcade, the chancel arch, and the font. The stonework of the pillars had been refaced, but the early tooling could still be seen in places. The pillars of the chancel arch were ransition Norman ; the head was later, unless the whole was Transition Norman, which was possible. The font was generally described as Norman, but it was of later date ; it was 13th century, but so early in the style that it might be described as Transitional.

Le Pard, Gordon, 1998, Medieval sundials in Dorset. Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society 119, 71 Fig 2.2, 79 (Article in serial). SDO21411.

<1> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume II (South East) Part 1, 179-80 (Monograph). SDO148.

(1) THE PARISH CHURCH of St. Osmund stands on the W. side of the village. The walls are of squared local rubble; most of the windows have dressings of Ham Hill stone; the roofs are covered with slate. The West Tower is of the 15th century; most of the rest of the church was rebuilt in 1846, retaining in the Chancel a chancel arch of c. 1200, restored, and in the Nave a N. arcade of c. 1300, from which the S. arcade was copied. The churchwardens' accounts record a payment of £5 11s. 4d. to Edward Mondey for plans, estimates and inspection, but H. Goodhart-Rendel ascribed the design to Benjamin Ferrey.
Architectural Description—The Chancel (16½ ft. by 14¾ ft.) has two-stage buttresses at the eastern corners. The E. window is of three lights with vertical tracery in a two-centred head with a label. The S. doorway has a four-centred head and continuous moulded jambs and a moulded label. The chancel arch is two-centred and of two chamfered orders; to the W. the outer order springs from engaged shafts with moulded bases, scalloped capitals and chamfered abaci; these last continue across the main responds to the E.
The Nave (48½ ft. by 16¾ ft.) has a N. arcade of four two-centred arches of two chamfered orders; the piers have four engaged shafts, with moulded capitals and bases, separated by hollow chamfers; the responds have attached half-piers and there is a passage-way cut through the E. respond. The S. arcade is a copy of the N. arcade. The North Aisle (10 ft. wide) was rebuilt in 1846 with old stonework for the walling and new windows. The E. wall has an embattled parapet and the E. and N. walls have two-stage buttresses; the windows are each of two cinque-foiled lights with a quatrefoil and pierced spandrels in a two-centred head with a label. The South Aisle (10 ft. wide), of 1846, has an embattled parapet and two-stage buttresses; the S. door has chamfered jambs and two-centred head; the windows are uniform with those in the N. aisle.
The West Tower (10 ft. by 11 ft.) is of two stages externally and three storeys internally, with a projecting vice. It has a moulded plinth, a weathered offset between the external stages and an embattled parapet; there are angle buttresses to the E., which project into the nave, and diagonal buttresses to the W. The tower arch is two-centred and of two wave-moulded orders, the inner order dying into the jambs and the outer being carried down. In the N. wall the 15th-century doorway to the vice has a restored chamfered two-centred head; there is also a 19th-century external doorway to the vice; the W. window is of three lights with restored mullions and moulded vertical tracery in a two-centred head with a label and head-stops. The top stage has in each wall a two-light window with blind tracery in a two-centred head under a moulded label. The South Porch (9 ft. by 5 ft.) has an outer two-centred archway with continuous moulded jambs.
The chancel Roof has king-post trusses with arch braces springing from stone corbels, and arched wind braces. The nave roof has arch-braced collar-beam trusses springing from stone corbels.
Fittings—Bells: four; 1st inscribed 'Angelus Gabriel', late 14th-century; 2nd inscribed 'Ave Maria', 15th-century; 3rd and 4th by John Wallis, 1593. Benefactor's Table: In tower, painted panel of the charity of Mrs. Susanna Toogood, 1826. Chest: in tower, of cast iron with inscription 'Osmington 1819'. Coffin-lid: in floor of nave, with cross in low relief, probably 14th-century. Coffin Stools: pair, 17th-century, repaired. Font: square stone bowl with sunk arched panels in each side, cylindrical stem with four smaller shafts on restored chamfered base, c. 1200. Inscriptions and Graffiti: on N. side of tower arch, RNP 1626; on lead of tower roof, churchwardens' initials dated 1806 and various scratchings. Monuments and Floor-slabs. Monuments: In chancel—on E. wall, (1) of Dorothy Cookson, 1821, white tablet on grey ground signed Osmond, Sarum; (2) of the Rev. John Fisher, M.A., vicar, 1832, white tablet on grey ground signed Osmond, Sarum; on N. wall, (3) of Elizabeth Fonblanque, 1844, white tablet with moulded and reeded surround and pediment, erected by her sister Harriet Philipps, signed Raggett, Weymouth; (4) standing wall-monument with Tuscan side columns standing on pedestals and carrying enriched entablature above which is a shield-of-arms of Warham within a roundel and scroll-work; between the columns is a panel with scrolled surround in a moulded frame; inscriptions on panel and frieze have neither name nor date; early 17th-century; on S. wall, (5) of William Hollingworth Philipps, 1839, white marble tablet with shield-of-arms within a pediment on grey ground, signed Adron, New Rd., London; (6) of Harriett, widow of W. H. Philipps' 1845, stone tablet in Gothic frame with leaf and flower decoration, signed Osmond, Sarum. In N. aisle, (7) of Thomas Howel, 1850, white marble tablet on black ground; (8) of Harriet Howel, no date, mid 19th-century; (9) of Ann, widow of Elliot Grasett of Barbadoes, 1840, white marble scroll and urn on black ground by Reeves and Son, Bath. In S. aisle, (10) of Thomas Gilbert, 1790, Mary his wife, 1790, and two daughters, white marble tablet with cornice carrying an urn against black ground with shield-of-arms and reeded corbel below; (11) of Sarah Grasett, 1837, white marble tablet on grey ground by G. Lewis, Cheltenham; (12) of Marianne Girardot, 1821, white marble tablet on grey ground. In churchyard—S.E. of chancel, (13) of Henry Baily, 1774, headstone (Plate 21) carved with figure rising from the grave; S. of chancel, (14) of Katherine, wife of John Fooks, 1714, headstone; (15) of William Hellier, 1711, and Mary his daughter, 1713, headstone; S. of S. aisle, (16) of Robert Godsall, 1678, table-tomb; W. of tower, (17) of Caleb Angel, 1774, headstone (Plate 21) carved with cherubs holding a crown over a mourning figure, similar in style to (13). Floor-slabs: In nave, (1) inscribed MG 1821. In N. aisle, (2) of William Stockesley, 1717, and William his son; (3) of Nicholas Hitt, 1715/6. In porch, (4) of Alice Welch, 1831. Plate: includes a cup of 1658 inscribed 1683 (Plate 23), a stand-paten of 1709 and a porringer with lid of 1732, inscribed 1731. Scratch-dial: on buttress at S.W. of tower. Miscellanea: loose in chancel, stone fragment carved with chevron ornament, 12th-century.

<2> Newman, J, and Pevsner, N, 1972, The Buildings of England: Dorset, 308 (Monograph). SWX1290.

<3> The Church of St. Osmund, Osmington (Monograph). SDO18193.

<4> Ordnance Survey, 1:2500 scale, 1985 (Map). SWX1197.

(SY 72418298) St. Osmund's Church [NAT]

<5> National Record of the Historic Environment, 868648 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Aug 22 2025 8:04PM