Listed Building record MDO26743 - Parish Church of John the Baptist, Broadwindsor

Parish Church. Late C12, early C13 core, C15 west tower with reset material. Drastic restoration by G M Allen of Crewkerne (1868), when nave and aisles extended one bay to the east, chancel and north aisle rebuilt.

The south arcade of the nave of the church of Saint John the Baptist was bult late in the 12th century, and the north arcade, aisle and chapel date from the early 13th century.

The west tower was added in the 15th century, when the south aisle was largely rebuilt. The church was restored in 1868, when the north vestry and south porch were added. (2-3)

Parish Church of St John the Baptist. Late C12th or early C13th font, table-top type of Purbeck stone. Grade II*. (4-5)

National Record of the Historic Environment, 193113 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1968 (Map). SWX1540.

(ST 43770268) Ch (NAT)

DOE (HRR), 1950, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest: Beaminster Rural District 1950, 10 (Scheduling record). SDO17358.

Newman, J, and Pevsner, N, 1972, The Buildings of England: Dorset, 115-6 (Monograph). SWX1290.

Department of the Environment, 1984, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest: District of West Dorset (Parishes of Burstock, Broadwindsor, Mapperton, Netherbury, North Poorton, Pilsdon, Powerstock and Stoke Abbott), 12 (Scheduling record). SDO16351.

<1> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments England, 1952, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume I (West), 52 (Monograph). SDO97.

‘(1) PARISH CHURCH OF ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST stands in the village. The walls are of flint and local stone rubble with ashlar and dressings of the same material; the roofs are covered with lead. The S. arcade of the Nave was built late in the 12th century and a N. arcade, aisle and chapel were built early in the 13th century. The S. clearstorey was built late in the 14th century. The South Aisle was largely rebuilt in the 15th century and the West Tower was added during the same period, the stair-turret being a rather later addition. The rebuilding of the church, with the exception of the chancel, to the designs of J. E. Giles of Taunton, proposed in 1848, was not carried out, but the church was drastically restored in 1868 by Allen of Crewkerne, when the nave and aisles were extended one bay to the E., the Chancel and North Aisle rebuilt, the N. arcade reconstructed and extended and the North Vestry and South Porch added.
Architectural Description—The Nave (51¾ ft. by 20¼ ft.) has a partly modern and partly reconstructed N. arcade of five bays; the four western arches are mainly of early 13th-century materials and are two-centred and of two chamfered orders; the cylindrical shafts and moulded capitals of the third and fourth columns are also of 13th-century materials, together with the moulded shaft-corbel of the W. respond resting on a king's head. The S. arcade is of five bays and of late 12th-century date except the E. bay and the first column which are modern; the arches are two-centred and of one chamfered order; the columns are cylindrical with scalloped capitals and moulded bases with defaced spur-ornaments; the W. respond has an attached half-column; the E. respond incorporates old material including the capital. The clearstorey is modern or rebuilt and has on each side five modern or entirely restored windows of late 14th-century character.
The South Aisle (5 ft. wide) has a modern E. bay. The embattled parapet has some old grotesque figures. In the S. wall are four windows, the easternmost modern; the second and third windows are of the 15th century, partly restored, and of three cinque-foiled lights in a square head with moulded external reveals; the westernmost window is of the same period and of three cinque-foiled lights with vertical tracery in a two-centred head with moulded reveals; the restored and reset S. doorway is of 14th-century character and has moulded jambs and two-centred head. In the W. wall is a modern window.
The West Tower (9½ ft. square) is of the 15th century and of three stages with an added stair-turret and an embattled parapet with eight carved grotesque figures. The tower-arch is modern. The reset late 14th-century W. doorway has moulded jambs and two-centred head; the W. window is modern except for the moulded jambs. The second stage has a blocked window in the N. wall and a single-light window in the W. wall, modern externally. The bell-chamber has a square-headed window in the N. wall; the other windows are modern. The newel of the stair-turret is carried up and finished with a capital, supporting the roof. The ceiling of the ground-stage of the tower has moulded beams forming sixteen panels with carved bosses at some intersections.
Fittings—Bells: six; 1st by Bilbie, 1800; 2nd, by Bilbie, 1790; 3rd, 15th-century, from Salisbury foundry, and inscribed, "Sancta Maria ora pro nobis"; 4th, 15th-century, Exeter foundry, and inscribed "Est michi collatum Ihc istud nomen amatum"; 5th by Robert Norton of Exeter, early 15th-century and inscribed "Sancte Gabriel ora pro nobis". Benefactors' Tables: In nave—on W. wall, (1) of Edmund Hallson, 1839, in semi-circular-headed frame, inscription with angel and cherubs' heads painted in colour, signed F. Frath (?) of Bridport. In S. aisle—on S. wall, (2) of John Stanton, 1795, framed painting on boards. Font: square bowl of Purbeck stone with diagonal and chequer designs on faces, moulded under edge to take the rounded stem with four attached shafts, moulded base of local stone, late 12th or early 13th-century. Monuments: In chancel—on N. wall, (1) to Edith (Studley), wife of Hugh Gundry, 1695–6, sunk stone tablet. In tower—on S. wall, (2) to Edmund Hallson, late armourer-sergeant to the 1st or King's Dragoon Guards, 1839, Mary wife of John Gorman and daughter of Edmund and Mary Hallson, 1826, and Edmund Hallson Gorman their son, 1834, wall-monument of white and grey marbles with clustered flanking columns, trophy-of-arms and standing figure of dragoon beside his horse; (3) above (2) and similar to it, the inscription is illegible. In churchyard—S. of S. aisle, (4) to John Hext, 1624 (?), . . . Donne, 1664, and John Hext, 1633, table-tomb. Painting: In second stage of tower —on boards, painted figures of Moses and Aaron under arches, 17th-century. Piscinae: In N. aisle—in E. wall, recess with trefoiled ogee head and label and sex-foiled drain, 14th-century, reset. In S. aisle—in E. wall, recess with moulded jambs, trefoiled ogee head, label and round drain, 14th-century, reset. Plate: includes two silver-plated flagons, one dated 1831. Pulpit (Plate 27): of oak, seven sided with buttressed and pinnacled angles, two ranges of panels, upper with conventional foliage, enriched middle rail, 16th-century, cornice and base modern. Royal Arms: painted and framed, 1783. Miscellanea: Incorporated in S. wall of S. aisle, stone with four sunk circles, mediæval.’

Record last edited

Apr 16 2025 4:21PM