Listed Building record MDO47853 - St Simon and St Jude's Church, Winterborne Monkton

Parish Church. 13th century, chancel and nave, structurally undivided. 15th century north porch added and subsequently rebuilt. circa 1500 west tower added. Early 16th century, south arcade built and south aisle added. 1870 restoration included the rebuilding of the north wall of the chancel and nave east of porch. circa 1875 addition of an organ chamber south of the chancel.

Parish Church of St Simon and ST Jude. C 13, chancel and nave, structurally undivided. C 15 north porch. Circa 1500 west tower. South arcade built, and south aisle added early C 16. restoration of 1870. <2-3>

Le Pard, Gordon, 1998, Medieval sundials in Dorset. Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society 119, 84 (Article in serial). SDO21411.

<1> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume II (South East) Part 2, 390 (Monograph). SDO149.

'(1) The Parish Church of St. Simon and St. Jude stands at the S.W. end of the village. The walls are of local rubble with freestone dressings; the roofs are covered with lead and slates. The body of the church consisting of Chancel and Nave was built in the early 13th century as a simple rectangular structure. The North Porch was added in the 15th century and subsequently rebuilt, the West Tower was added c. 1500, and early in the 16th century the S. arcade was built and the South Aisle added. A restoration which was begun in 1870 included the rebuilding of the N. wall of the chancel and nave E. of the porch and the addition c. 1875 of an organ chamber S. of the chancel.

Architectural Description—The Chancel (17 ft. by 15 ft.) is structurally undivided from the nave. At the corners of the E. wall and in the centre are restored pilaster buttresses of c. 1200; the greater part of the wall was rebuilt in the 15th century with a heavy moulded plinth. The restored 15th-century E. window is of three cinque-foiled ogee lights with vertical tracery in a two-centred head with a label and head-stops. In the N. wall is a restored 16th-century window of three round-headed lights in a square head. In the S. wall is a late 19th-century archway to the organ chamber and W. of it a 15th-century doorway, with a four-centred head, to the former rood-loft staircase. The S. window of the Organ Chamber is of the early 16th century, reset.

The Nave (28½ ft. by 15 ft.) has in the N. wall two windows similar to the N. window of the chancel; the early 13th-century N. doorway has rounded jambs, a segmental arch and hollow-chamfered imposts. The early 16th-century S. arcade is of three bays with four-centred and moulded arches springing from piers and half-piers as responds, all with attached shafts having moulded bases and capitals carved with foliage and roses. The South Aisle (7 ft. wide) has, in the E. wall, a late 19th-century archway to the organ chamber. In the S. wall are two restored 16th-century windows each of three four-centred lights in a square head; the S. doorway, now blocked, has chamfered jambs and lintel. In the W. wall is a window uniform with those in the S. wall.

The West Tower (9½ ft. by 9 ft.), of the early 16th century, is of two stages, formerly divided into three storeys, with a moulded plinth, weathered string between the stages, a moulded parapet string below an embattled parapet and two-stage diagonal buttresses at the N.W., S.W. and S.E. angles; at the N.E. corner is a polygonal stair turret. The tower arch has plain jambs and a chamfered two-centred head. The W. window is of two trefoiled ogee lights with tracery in a two-centred head with moulded reveals and a label with headstops. The former second storey has a square-headed window in the E. wall over which the string-course rises to form a label. The bell-chamber has in each wall a pair of square-headed lights; those on the S. and W. have been restored with horizontal ties of stone.

The North Porch (6½ ft. square) has a 15th-century outer archway with moulded jambs and a two-centred head.

Fittings—Bells: one, inscribed 'Ave Maria', mid 15th-century. Communion Table: with turned legs, moulded upper rails and shaped brackets, late 17th-century. Font: octagonal with moulded and splayed bowl, plain stem and modern base, perhaps 14th-century. Monument and Floor-slabs. Monument: in tower on W. wall, to Julia Harriet, daughter of the Rev. Joseph Foster, rector, 1849, white marble shield-shaped tablet with cross above on black marble lozenge-shaped backing. Floor-slabs: in N. porch, (1) to John Medultun, 161.; (2) to John Reade, 1614; (3) to William Parsons, 1672, and Mary (Reade) his wife, 1672, and another.

Piscina: in chancel, recess with chamfered jambs, moulded and crocketed ogee head and projecting base cut back, early 16th-century. Plate: includes cup and cover-paten of 1571, the former with engraved ornament. Royal Arms: in nave, on N. wall, of George III after 1816, painting in moulded frame. Screen: between chancel and nave, modern but incorporating two lengths of late 14th-century fretted tracery.'

<2> Newman, J, and Pevsner, N, 1972, The Buildings of England: Dorset, 482 (Monograph). SWX1290.

<3> National Record of the Historic Environment, 868670 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

May 1 2025 12:22PM