Listed Building record MDO31679 - Parish church of All Saints, West Parley

A church, the earliest surviving part of which is the nave, built in the twelfth century, and extended in the sixteenth century. Later additions also include the fourteenth-century chancel, the fifteenth-century north porch, and a number of eighteenth-century features. The church was restored in 1896; the vestry was added at this time. The building has walls of ironstone rubble with bands of brick and ashlar dressings, and the roof is tiled in stone and slate. The font is of twelfth-century date, and another notable feature of the interior is an earthenware acoustic cylinder near the pulpit.

All Saint's Church is 12th century and later with a chancel and vestry of 1896. <2>

In normal use. <3>

Church of All Saints and St Mark. 12th century nave 14th century chancel, 15th century North porch nave extension. Vestry and general restoration in 1896, including the external work of the chancel. The font is a 12th century tub font with arcading, cylindrical stem and square base, the whole surmounted by a later octagonal bowl. Grade II*. <4>

<1> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1926-38 (Map). SWX1540.

(SZ 08659684) All Saint's Church (NAT)

<2> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1975, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume V (East), 74-76 (Monograph). SDO129.

‘(1) THE PARISH CHURCH OF ALL SAINTS, on a slight eminence beside the Stour, has walls of Heathstone rubble, partly rendered and with ashlar dressings, and roof-coverings of tile and stone-slate. The Nave is of mid 12th-century origin and the Chancel probably dates from the 14th century. Late in the 15th or early in the 16th century the North Porch was added and the nave was re-roofed; later in the 16th century the W. wall of the nave was rebuilt and the western part of the roof was altered to allow the construction of a wooden bell-turret; the present turret, however, is of the late 18th century. In 1896 the chancel was largely rebuilt, the original E. window being reset; the North Vestry was added at this time. The porch was restored in 1900.

The early font and N. doorway are of interest, and the timber porch is an unusual survival. The nave has 17th-century fittings.

Architectural Description—The Chancel has a reset 14th-century E. window of two cinquefoil-headed lights with a pierced quatrefoil in a chamfered two-centred head with continuous jambs. The N. and S. walls are of 1896, but the W. window on the S. side incorporates reused material, perhaps mediaeval. The 14th-century chancel arch is two-centred and of two orders; its small regular voussoirs may be reused 12th-century material. The inner order is chamfered and rises above chamfered responds with moulded caps and roll-moulded stops at the foot; the outer order of the arch is chamfered on the W. side only, but the responds are chamfered on both sides, the eastern chamfers ending above and below in shaped stops. On the W., the arch has a chamfered label with bracket stops of uncertain date. Flanking the chancel arch are large squints with chamfered two-centred heads and continuous jambs; they are rendered and of uncertain, but possibly 14th-century date.

The N. wall of the Nave has a shallow projection on the E. which probably incorporates the remains of a pilaster buttress. The N. window, with a chamfered ogee trefoil head, is of the 18th century. The 12th-century N. doorway has plain ashlar jambs and a heavy stone lintel with a cambered upper surface supporting a recessed tympanum and a plain semicircular relieving arch; to increase the height of the doorway the underside of the lintel, probably flat in origin, has been made segmental (cf. Tarrant Rushton, Dorset IV, 113). The semicircular rear-arch is rendered. Further W. a vertical joint in the wall marks the 16th-century reconstruction of the W. end of the nave. A two-stage buttress of uncertain date at the N.W. corner probably incorporates mediaeval material. Much of the S. wall is rendered, but towards the E. is a stout 14th-century Heathstone buttress of three weathered stages. The two S. windows, similar to that on the N., have hollow-chamfered labels with returned stops. A former S. doorway is attested by chamfered jambs seen low down externally (now in a heating chamber) and by the outline of the rear-arch seen internally. A set-back indicates the extent of 16th-century reconstruction of the W. wall. The W. window, of two trefoil-headed lights below a roundel in a two-centred head, is of the 18th century. Above the W. gable is a square timber Bell-turret with weather-boarded sides and with a lead-covered octagonal spire.

The North Porch (Plate 64) has a square-headed entry with a double-chamfered oak lintel resting on shouldered oak jambs, chamfered as before and with run-out stops; these stand on chamfered oak wall-plates and low stone plinths, the wall-plates forming seats inside the porch. Above the lintel is a strutted gable and a bargeboard with cusped decoration. Inside, the roof rests on a truss similar to the gable.
The nave Roof has arch-braced trussed rafters formerly concealed by a plaster barrel vault (old photograph). Three longitudinal chamfered ribs with lozenge-shaped bosses at intervals projected below the former vault; the ribs and bosses have been renewed. The W. end of the nave is spanned by two 16th-century king-strut tie-beam trusses with curved braces and collar-beams; these trusses support the bell-turret.

Fittings—Bell: inscribed 'T. Pyke, B.water, 1792'. Candlesticks: Pair, attached to pulpit, of brass with shaped brackets representing swans' heads and square uprights with pineapple finials, 18th century. Chair: of oak, with two-panelled back and turned arm supports, with drawer beneath seat, late 17th century; brass inscription-plate modern. Coffin-lid: Reset against W. side of porch, of stone with plain raised cross, 14th century. Door: In N. doorway, of elm, nail-studded and with scrolled wrought-iron hinges (Plate 21); ironwork late mediaeval, woodwork probably 18th century. Font: (Plate 18) of stone, of tub form, with tapering bowl with raised round-headed arcading, on cylindrical stem and square base, mid 12th century; set on top of foregoing, octagonal stone bowl with chamfered under-edge, probably late mediaeval. Graffiti: On W. jamb of N. doorway, initials and dates, 1695–7.
Monuments: In chancel, reset on N. wall, (1) of Richard Ness, 1839, and his wife Elizabeth Mary, 1835, marble tablet by Bedfored, London. In churchyard, two paces S. of nave, (2), (3), (4), of Margaret Bromley, 1723, and of John and of Mary Pelten, both 1728, three similar headstones with shaped tops and cherub-head decoration; adjacent, (5) of John Thomes, 1721, headstone. Niche: On S. of chancel arch, facing E., with segmental stone head, probably reset; date uncertain.
Plate: includes silver cup and cover-paten by Laurence Stratford with inscription 1574; also pewter alms-dish inscribed John Carpenter, early 19th century. Pulpit and Desk: (Plate 19), of oak, pulpit with five panelled sides with guilloche enrichment at base and leaf-carving in upper panels, 17th century; hexagonal sounding-board with moulded cornice and panelled support, 18th century; clerk's desk adjacent to pulpit, with similar enrichment, 17th century. Seating: of pine, with box pews, 1841 (inscription in vestry). Weather-vane: of iron with arrow head and open fish tail, said to bear date 1793. Miscellanea: (1) In vestry, ten early 16th-century bosses from nave roof, carved with knots, frets and other devices. (2) Below E. window, externally, niche of 1893 containing earthenware vase, said to have held heart-burial of Lady of Lydlinch (Hutchins IV, 192; cf. Dorset III, 138, Lydlinch (1), monument (11)). (3) Sunk in wall above pulpit sounding-board, hollow earthenware acoustic cylinder.’

<3> Quinnell, N V, Various, Field Investigators Comments NVQ, F1 NVQ 26-NOV-55 (Unpublished document). SDO11903.

<4> DOE (HHR), 1987, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest: Wimborne District amendment October 1987, 40 (Scheduling record). SDO17473.

<5> National Record of the Historic Environment, 457848 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Apr 16 2025 1:40PM