Listed Building record MDO3803 - Parish church of St Mary Magdalen, Fifehead Magdalen

The parish church of St Mary Magdalen has walls of squared and coursed rubble with ashlar dressings. Predominant features are the chancel, nave and the south tower being 14th century.

Parish Church of St. Mary Magdalen, Fifehead Magdalen, has walls of squared and coursed rubble with ashlar dressings. The chancel, nave and south tower are of 14th century origin. The north chapel appears to have been designed as a setting for a monument of circa 1750. The church was restored in 1905. <2>

<1> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1962 (Map). SWX1540.

(ST 78282159) St Mary Magdalene's Church (NAT)

<2> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1972, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume IV (North), 19-20 (Monograph). SDO99.

‘(1) THE PARISH CHURCH OF ST. MARY MAGDALEN has walls of squared and coursed rubble with ashlar dressings, and stone-slated roofs. The Chancel, Nave and South Tower are of 14th-century origin. The North Chapel appears to have been designed as a setting for monument (2) and therefore in its present form is presumably of c. 1750; the wording of monument (3), however, implies that it replaces a chapel or burial vault of 1693. The church was restored in 1905 (Faculty, Sarum Dioc. Regy.).
Architectural Description—The E. window of the Chancel is modern. In the N. wall, a vertical joint on the E. of the N. chapel indicates the position of a former window. The opening to the N. chapel has a chamfered segmental arch of rubble springing from chamfered imposts on lightly chamfered jambs. Further W. is a blocked window with a segmental rear-arch, of uncertain date. In the S. wall are two restored 15th-century windows, each of two cinquefoil-headed lights in a hollow-chamfered square-headed surround; between them is a 14th-century doorway with a chamfered two-centred head and continuous jambs; the rear-arch is two-centred and chamfered.
The North Chapel has walls of ashlar and of coursed rubble with plain square plinths. Internally, a moulded trefoil wall-arch at the head of the gabled N. wall springs from shaped corbels, forming a recess for the Newman monument (2). In the W. wall is a square-headed window with a moulded surround, probably of the 17th century, reset.
The Nave has, on the E., a two-centred chancel arch of one order, lightly chamfered, the chamfers continuing on the jambs and ending at broach stops. A straight joint in the N. spandrel is probably the jamb of a former rood-loft doorway. The N. wall has been extensively restored. At the E. end is a modern buttress; at the centre is a 14th-century buttress of two weathered stages; at the W. end is a small modern buttress of old masonry reused. The window at the E. end of the N. wall, with a chamfered round head and a wooden lintel in place of a rear-arch, is of the 17th century; further W. is a restored 15th-century window of two cinquefoil-headed lights in a square-headed casement-moulded surround; the western window is of 14th-century origin, with two ogee-headed lights under tracery in a square-headed surround; the heads and the tracery are modern. The S. wall has, on the E., a rebuilt buttress of two weathered stages on a plinth which suggests that the original buttress was larger than at present. At the S.W. corner is a modern angle-buttress in which each wing is capped with reset 15th-century weathering. Of the two windows between the E. buttress and the S. tower, that on the E. is similar to the westernmost opening in the N. wall; that on the W. is similar to those in the S. wall of the chancel. The S. doorway is of the late 14th century and has a chamfered two-centred head and continuous jambs; the rear-arch is segmental and chamfered. The western part of the S. wall has been rebuilt above window—sill level, with a restored and reset 15th-century window of two cinquefoil-headed lights. The W. wall has a 15th-century window of three cinquefoil-headed lights, with vertical tracery in a casementmoulded two-centred head with continuous jambs; the head and tracery have been renewed. At the N. end of the W. wall is a modern square-set buttress with reset 15th-century weathering.
The South Tower is of two stages, with moulded string-courses and an embattled parapet; the upper stage was rebuilt in 1905. In the lower stage, the Porch archway has a chamfered two-centred head and continuous jambs; above is a modern trefoil-headed loop. The vice turret is modern.
Fittings—Bells: three; treble by John Wallis with inscription 'Prayse God IW 1595'; 2nd by Thomas Purdue, inscribed 'Anno Domini 1683, EG TM CW TP'; tenor inscribed 'ave maria' in black-letter, Salisbury foundry, 15th century; Chandeliers: four, of brass, with globular pendants supporting two tiers of sconces on scrolled arms, with vase-shaped upper and gadrooned lower finials (Plate 39); 18th century. Chair: of oak, with turned front legs, enriched rails, shaped arm-rests, panelled back with flower enrichment and large fleur-de-lis in central lozenge, and scroll cresting; 17th century. Chest: of oak, with panelled sides; late 18th century. Churchyard Cross: S.E. of chancel, with chamfered stone base with shafted angles, 15th century, reset on modern plinth and with modern shaft and head. Coffin Stools: two, of oak, with turned legs and enriched rails; 17th century. Communion Table: of oak, with turned legs, enriched rails and plain stretchers; late 17th century, top modern. Doors: two; one in S. doorway, of oak planks hinged at centre, with enriched border and cover-fillets and two-centred head (Plate 22); planks carved with letters W T B, O I T, each letter occupying shield-shaped recess or boss, and 1637 in sunk panel; another in porch archway, with plain boards and beaded fillets, late 17th century.Font: (Plate 12) with octagonal stone bowl with two trefoil-headed panels on each face, 15th century, on gadrooned and fluted baluster-shaped pedestal, with moulded octagonal base and cable moulding at top, early 18th century. Font-cover: of oak, octagonal, with turned finial, 18th century.
Monuments: In N. chapel, reset on E. wall, (1) of Thomas Newman, 1649 [by a misprint Hutchins (IV, 58) gives 1602], and his son Richard, 1664, marble tablet in segmental-headed moulded stone surround, surmounted by three cartouches-of-arms of Newman; tablet, 17th century, surround probably 18th century; on N. wall, (2) of Sir Richard Newman Bart., 1721, his wife Frances, 1730, his son Samwell, 1747, and his daughters, Frances, 1775, Barbara, 1763, and Elizabeth, 1774 (Plate 41), large wall monument of white, grey, pink and yellow marbles, with busts of Sir Richard, his wife and his son, medallions (Plate 20) of his daughters, foliate brackets, wreaths, inscription tablet, cartouche, and obelisk-shaped back-plate; voids left in inscription for dates after 1747, subsequently filled in, hence monument probably c. 1750; reset on W. wall, (3) of Richard Newman, [1683], stone tablet recording transfer of coffin, 1693. In nave, on N. wall, (4) of George Davidge, 1772, his wife Joan, 1759, their children John, 1744, Hester, 1758, George, 1772, tablet in stone surround with enriched architrave and entablature, and broken segmental pediment with urn finial (Plate 39). In churchyard, 10 paces S. of chancel, (5) of Maximilian Marsh, 1642, table-tomb; 12 paces S.W. of porch, (6) of Thomas Newman, 1668, table-tomb; adjacent to the foregoing, (7) table-tomb, anonymous.
Niche: In S. porch, in E. wall, rectangular recess with segmental head, probably mediaeval. Piscina: In chancel, in S. wall, 14th-century stone bowl with quatrefoil sinking, in square recess with chamfered two-centred head. Plate: includes Elizabethan silver cup and cover-paten (Plate 25) with assay marks of 1573, and the same date inscribed on cover-paten; also silver paten of 1822. Royal Arms: in relief, gilded, late 18th-century. Miscellanea: Cherub head with wings, carved in softwood, 18th century.’

<3> Newman, J, and Pevsner, N, 1972, The Buildings of England: Dorset, 203-4 (Monograph). SWX1290.

<4> National Record of the Historic Environment, 202441 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Apr 16 2025 3:56PM