Listed Building record MDO27068 - Church of St Mary, Almer, Sturminster Marshall

Originally twelfth century, parts of the nave are of this date. The north aisle was built and the neve heightened in the fourteenth century, and the West Tower was adden in the fifteenth century. In the early eighteenth century the south wall of the nave was rebuilt, the south porch was built and parts of the tower were refaced. The chancel was rebuilt in the second half of the nineteenth century and the church was restored in 1908. The church is of limestone and carstone, with tiled roofs verged with stone slates. The record for this monument has been enhanced with support from Wessex Water.

Parish Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Almer with walls of limestone and carstone has a nave and north arcade of the mid 12 th century. The north aisle was rebuilt in the 14th century when the nave was heightened,and the west tower was added in the mid 15th century. In the early 18th century the south wall of the nave was rebuilt, the porch was added and part of the tower was refaced. The chancel was rebuilt in the second half of the 19th century and the church restored in 1908. <2>

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

(SY 91329893) St. Mary's Church (NAT)

<2> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume II (South East) Part 2, 285-286 (Monograph). SDO149.

'(2) THE PARISH CHURCH OF ST. MARY THE VIRGIN, Almer (913989), has walls of limestone and carstone and the roofs are covered with tiles with stone slates at the verges. The Nave with its North Arcade was built in the mid 12th century; the North Aisle was rebuilt in the 14th century, when the nave was heightened, and the West Tower was added in the mid 15th century. In the early 18th century the S. wall of the nave was rebuilt, the Porch was added and part of the tower was refaced. The alterations and addition were paid for by General Erle, who died in 1720 (Hutchins III, 494). The Chancel was rebuilt in the second half of the 19th century, and the church was restored in 1908.

Architectural Description—The Chancel (21½ ft. by 15½ ft.) is of the late 19th century; the chancel arch of 1908 incorporates some reused mediaeval material in the chamfered responds. The Nave (39 ft. by 14½ ft.) has a mid 12th-century N. arcade of three bays with round arches of one plain order springing from round columns and half-round responds with scalloped capitals, hollow-chamfered square abaci and moulded bases with spurs. The S. wall is faced with 18th-century ashlar but the 12th-century S.W. quoin survives; the windows are round-headed with moulded sills and architraves and plain keystones; there is some mediaeval stonework reused in the internal splays. The S. doorway, of 12th-century origin, was reconstructed in the 18th century with segmental head of one hollow-chamfered order and hollow-chamfered jambs and imposts. In the W. wall is part of a plain string-course at the line of the original eaves of the nave roof. The North Aisle (30½ ft. by 6¼ ft.) has walls of coursed flint, carstone and tufa rubble; the E. window is of the late 14th century and has a single trefoiled ogee light. In the N. wall is a restored mid 15th-century window of three trefoiled lights in a square head; the second window has two cinque-foiled lights in a square head and is probably of the late 14th century; the third window is modern and replaces an earlier doorway of which the lower parts of the chamfered jambs are visible externally. There was formerly a porch to this doorway.

The West Tower (7½ ft. by 8¼ ft.) is of three storeys divided into two external stages by a weathered string and has a parapet string and embattled parapet with crocketed pinnacles at the corners. The tower arch is two-centred and of two moulded orders with continuous moulded jambs stopped above hollow-chamfered plinths; on the W. side the outer order dies in the N. and S. walls. The W. window has two cinque-foiled lights and vertical tracery in a two-centred head with a label with returned stops. The second storey is lit by a rectangular window in the W. wall. The upper stage has in each wall a two-light window similar to the lowest W. window, but smaller. The South Porch (6 ft. by 4½ ft.) is of the 18th century; the entrance is square-headed with a beaded architrave.
The Roof of the chancel is modern. The nave roof is of trussed-rafter type, probably of the 18th century but extensively reconstructed; it retains the shaped ribs for an elliptical plaster ceiling which has been removed.
Fittings—Bells: four; 2nd, inscribed AVE MARE (sic); 3rd, inscribed AVE GR(A)CIA PLENA W; 4th, inscribed ECCE GABRIEL S H; all of the early 15th century, cast in Salisbury. Brass and Indent. Brass: in nave, on S. wall, to William Trygge, Rector, 1517, small inscription plate, probably from Winterborne Zelston Church (Dorset Procs. XXXI (1910), xli). Indent: in nave, floor-slab of Purbeck marble with indent for small inscription plate; it does not match the Trygge brass. Churchyard Cross: W. of porch, tapered octagonal shaft brought to a square at the bottom by shaped stops and set on an octagonal base brought to a square by moulded projections, c. 1400. Font: late 12th-century octagonal bowl of Purbeck marble with tapered sides, each with two recessed panels with two-centred heads, set on small cylindrical stem and base which is an inverted font bowl of the 13th century. This was originally hexagonal and supported by a central stem with six shafts round it; it has been cut to an octagon to match the font bowl above; the hexagonal base for it is loose in the churchyard, and has carved on its upper face moulded bases for the six shafts.
Glass: in chancel—in N. window, in E. and W. and tracery lights, fragments of 15th-century and later glass; in the centre light two panels made up of pieces of Swiss painted glass of the 16th and 17th centuries including, in top panel, Virgin and Child, John the Baptist, the Magi directed by the Star, the Adoration, strapwork, parts of achievements-of-arms and a German inscription; in lower panel, expressions of Christian belief etc., one dated 1610, the Last Judgement, achievement-of-arms and terminal figures; in S. window tracery lights, fragments of 15th-century and later glass. Inscriptions and Scratchings: on lead lining of font '1711' and '1715' with initials. Lock: on S. door, with moulded wood case, 18th-century. Monuments and Floor-slabs. Monuments: in chancel— on N. wall, (1) to Margaret, daughter of George Lamb, Rector of Heath, Oxon., 1850; on S. wall, (2) to Mrs. Elizabeth Wickens, 1822, and John Wickens, 1827, marble tablet on grey backing. In nave, on N. wall, (3) to Martha (Elliott) widow of Harry Farnall, 1831, marble tablet on black backing, signed Simmonds, Blandford. Floor-slabs: in chancel, (1) to Robert Butler, 1661; in nave, (2) inscribed 'Entrance to the vault of Mrs. Farnall'; (3) Purbeck marble slab with blackletter inscription to John Red, perhaps early 16th-century. Plate: includes cup and cover-paten, 17th-century. Royal Arms: over S. doorway, painted on canvas, of George III, dated 1800. Sculpture: in nave over piers of N. arcade, two human heads, mediaeval. '

<3> Newman, J, and Pevsner, N, 1972, The Buildings of England: Dorset, 75 (Monograph). SWX1290.

<4> A guide to the church of St Mary the Vigin, West Almer (Monograph). SDO18222.

<5> National Record of the Historic Environment, 457353 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Apr 15 2025 11:28AM