Listed Building record MDO4598 - Parish church of St Thomas a Becket, Pulham

Parish church mainly 15th century in date with additions dating to the 16th century. A restoration was carried out in the 19th century and further alterations made in 1870. The church is built of rubble and ashlar with tile roofs. Two inhumations were recorded during a programme of archaeological evaluations investigating subsidence of the south and east chancel walls of the church. No dating evidence was found with the burials but as the earliest phase of the church foundations may be Saxon, a late Saxon or Medieval date is possible for the burials.

Parish Church of St Thomas A Becket, Pulham, has walls of coursed rubble with ashlar dressings. The font and fragments of sculpture re-used as the head of the tower doorway bear witness to a 12th century church but the present building is considerably later. The chancel, west tower, east bay of the nave and east wall of the south aisle are 15th century. The three western bays of the nave and south porch and presumably the north and south aisles are 16th century although the latter features were largely rebuilt in the 19th century. The church is of interest for the surviving traces of the 15th century plan, which appears to have been cruciform. Grade B. <2-3>

Church of St Thomas A Becket. A parish church mainly 15th century in date, with possible 12th century origins, and 16th century additions. The church was restored in the 19th century and 1870. Construction is of rubble and ashlar with ashlar dressings. The roofs are of tile. <4>

Two inhumations were recorded during a programme of archaeological evalutions investigating subsidence of the south and east chancel walls of the church. No dating evidence was found with the burials but as the earliest phase of the church foundations maybe Saxon, a late Saxon or Medieval date is possible for the burials. <6>

Le Pard, Gordon, 1998, Medieval sundials in Dorset. Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society 119, 80 (Article in serial). SDO21411.

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

(ST 71170851) St Thomas a Becket's Church (NAT)

<2> Royal Commission on Historic Monuments, 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume III (Central) Part 2, 231-233 (Monograph). SDO136.

‘(1) The Parish Church of St. Thomas Ả Becket stands in the E. part of West Pulham and near the centre of the parish. It has walls of coursed rubble with ashlar dressings and it is roofed with lead and with modern tiles. The font and a fragment of sculpture reused as the head of the tower vice doorway bear witness to a church of the 12th century, but the present building is considerably later. The Chancel is of the first half of the 15th century and the E. bay of the nave is contemporary with it. The easternmost arches of the N. and S. nave arcades probably represent the entrances to former North and South Chapels; the E. wall of the S. aisle appears to be of the 15th century and probably survives from the former S. chapel. The West Tower is of the second half of the 15th century. The three western bays of the Nave and the South Porch are of the early 16th century; presumably the North and South Aisles are also of 16th-century origin but they were largely rebuilt in the 19th century; at the same time a new E. window was inserted in the chancel, the chancel arch was rebuilt and the North Vestry was added.

The church is of interest for the surviving traces of the 15th-century plan, which appears to have been cruciform. Some notable 16th-century gargoyles are reset in the 19th-century parapets. The Renaissance corbels at the W. end of the nave arcades are interesting. ‘

<3> Newman, J, and Pevsner, N, 1972, The Buildings of England: Dorset, 351-2 (Monograph). SWX1290.

<4> Department of the Environment, 1983, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest: Dorset (Parishes of Fifehead Neville, Glanvilles Wooton, Hazelbury Bryan, Ibbertson, Lydlinch, Mappowder, Okeford Fitzpaine, Pulham, Stoke Wake, Stourton Caundle and Woolland), 67 (Scheduling record). SDO16454.

<5> Cherryson, A K, 2006, Gazetteer of Early Medieval Sites, 36 (Unpublished document). SDO17464.

<6> Mcmahon P, 1997, An archaeological investigation at the Church of St Thomas a Becket, Pulham, Dorset (Unpublished document). SDO12515.

<7> National Record of the Historic Environment, 201800 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

May 1 2025 12:12PM