Find Spot record MDO2138 - Thirteenth century coffin-lid found in the churchyard at Powerstock

A thirteenth century coffin-lid which is made of Purbeck marble. It was found when the churchyard was being cleared of rough grass. The lower end of the lid is missing. It is decorated with the design of a circular-headed cross.

A THIRTEENTH CENTURY COFFIN-LID AT POWERSTOCK
In August 1969 Mr. Percy Sykes, when clearing up rough grass in the churchyard at Powerstock, found a Purbeck marble coffin-lid beneath a skin of turf. It lay close to the S. gate, E. of the path, but is not shown in a professional plan dated 1907; nor does anyone living recollect seeing it or hearing of it before. Hutchins does not mention this stone and it is not listed by Long among his pre-Reformation monuments. That it was removed from the church in the restoration of 1858 is probable, for at Corfe a coffin-lid was broken up in 1859-60 but rediscovered when the original floor levels were restored in 1947.
At Powerstock an omnibus Faculty (1853) authorizing the restoration under Archdeacon Sanctuary does not specify items removed but gives permission for a general clearance. The coffin-lid may well have prevented the laying of the existing Victorian glazed tiles. The lower end of the lid is missing; it has been neatly hewn away on the left side but the cutting may have caused an oblique break from the centre to the right side. The resulting mutilation may have led to a decision to remove the monument entirely, a fate that overtook the old font (now returned to the church). The floriated cross in low relief probably arose from Calvary steps, as is customary, but the base has not been found. The stone when complete must have been some 18 inches longer than the maximum 4 foot 10 inches still preserved. It is 5 and a half inches thick.
The slab is of pinkish Purbeck marble with typical small gasteropods, its surface now much weathered, but the back for 1 to 1 and a half inches is of closely compacted layers of series, as confirmed by Miss Samuel of the Dorset County Museum and by the Department of Palacontology, British Museum (Natural History).
The circular-headed cross is of simple bold design, the ends of the limbs being three-fid, like a laterally expanded fleur de lis. The centre of the cross is voided by a quadrangular aperture. The shaft bears a circular swelling. There is no half-roll moulding delimiting the upper surface, but the edge has a single chamfer. (1)

<1> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1970, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1969, 190-191 (Serial). SDO69.

Record last edited

Nov 17 2010 10:21AM