Listed Building record MDO26308 - Church of St Michael, Winterbourne Steepleton

Church of St Micheal and All Angels at Winterbourne Steepleton. The existence of a stone church on this site before the Norman Conquest seems to follow from the survival of a carved stone angel dated by Talbot Rice to the early 10th century, and now built into the south wall about 3 feet from the ground.

The massive quoins, the stone rubble walls only 32 inches thick, and the north and south doorways with hood moulds and solid stone tympana, make it certain that the fabric of the nave is either late Saxon or early Norman, probably the former.

The earliest surviving window is an Early English lancet now opening to the tower. The south porch and the tower are
14th century, and the chancel was rebuilt in the 15th century. <2-5>

Full description of the late 10th-early 11th century angel depiction built into the North wall of the chancel, which has strong affinities with the Bradford-on-Avon angels. This was formerly built into a buttress 2.75m East of the next fragment. An inscribed slab fragment of 10th-11th century is built into the external South wall of the nave aisle. Full description of both fragments. <5>

Le Pard, Gordon, 1998, Medieval sundials in Dorset. Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society 119, 70 Fig 1.2, 85 (Article in serial). SDO21411.

<1> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1963 (Map). SWX1540.

(SY 62918980) Ch [NAT]

<2> Taylor, H M, and Taylor, Jean, 1965, Anglo-Saxon Architecture (Vol 2), 673-4 (Monograph). SWX3042.

<3> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume II (South East) Part 2 (Monograph). SDO149.

<4> Newman, J, and Pevsner, N, 1972, The Buildings of England: Dorset, 490-1 (Monograph). SWX1290.

<5> Cramp, R, 2006, Corpus of Anglo-Saxon Stone Sculpture: Vol VII. South-West England, 125-6 (Monograph). SDO17427.

<6> National Record of the Historic Environment, 452527 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

May 1 2025 12:24PM