Monument record MDO7674 - Medieval church of St Mary, East Stoke

Former parish church of St Mary. First documented in 1306. Demolished in 1848, except for a fragment dating from the 15th Century inclusing the porch and the south wall of the nave. Surrounded by a churchyard containing 17th and 18th century gravestones and a table tomb. An enclosure surrounding the church is visible on Lidar imagery.

St Mary's Church, East Stoke recorded in the Sarum registers of 1306 was a small building consisting of nave and chancel with a low tower containing three bells. It was demolished in 1848 but some remains are still visible in the churchyard. <1>

The remains of the church consist of an Early English arch of the porch, the east wall of the porch and an adjoining four metres of the south wall of the nave. There are no visible indications of the remainder of the building and the whole area is overgrown. <2>

SY 868868 Ruins of St Mary's Church Scheduled. <6>

St Mary's Church, East Stoke is referred to as 'the church of Estoke by Byndon' in 1403 and 'ecclesia de Stoke iuxta Bynedon' in 1483. <7>

St Mary's Church remains as described above. <8>

An enclosure surrounding the church is visible on Lidar imagery <11>. It was digitally plotted during the Wild Purbeck Mapping Project.

Le Pard, Gordon, 1998, Medieval sundials in Dorset. Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society 119, 75 (Article in serial). SDO21411.

<1> Shipp, W, and Hodson, J W (eds), 1861, The History and Antiquities of the County of Dorset. 3rd edition. Volume 1, 422 (Monograph). SWX4496.

<2> Quinnell, N V, Various, Field Investigators Comments NVQ, F1 NVQ 18-SEP-52 (Unpublished document). SDO11903.

<3> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1963 (Map). SWX1540.

(SY 86778675) St. Mary's Church (NR) (remains of) (NAT)

<4> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume II (South East) Part 2, 274-275, East Stoke 2 (Monograph). SDO149.

‘(2) OLD CHURCH OF ST. MARY stands on low-lying ground S. of the river Frome, ⅓ m. S.W. A fragment only remains of a mediaeval church which was demolished in 1828. The font in the new church suggests that there was a church here in the 13th century, but the surviving remains are of the 15th century and consist of parts of the S. wall of the nave and of the S. porch. The remaining foundations of the rest of the church confirm Hutchins' description of it as a small building comprising nave, chancel and tower (Hutchins I, 422).

In the remaining fragment of the S. wall is a 15th-century window with casement-moulded jambs, two-centred head and a label with defaced stops. The window was of three lights. The S. porch has in the E. wall a small quatrefoil window with sunk spandrels; the S. archway is two-centred with continuous moulded jambs carried down to a chamfered plinth. (The arches of the window and of the entrance to the porch fell between 1948 and 1963.)

Fittings—Inscription: on S.E. corner of porch, initials E.D., T.H., R.H. Monuments and Floor-slab. Monuments: in churchyard, S.W. of porch, (1) to William Lockyer, 1699, headstone (see parish church (1), under Bells); (2) to Sturton Dawe, 1704; (3) to Richard Smith, 1698; (4) to Jane, wife of Alexander Lumber, 1711/12; 13 yds. E.S.E. of porch, (5) to Charles Batten, 1689. Floor-slab: in chancel, to Joseph Goodwin, 1772. Stoup: in porch above seat against E. wall, engaged semi-octagonal shaft with moulded cap and base and bowl at top, now broken; over it a recess in the wall with two-centred head. Sundial: on S.E. corner of porch, scratch dial.’

<6> Department of the Environment, 1978, Department of the Environment (IAM) Ancient Monuments of England (Vol 2) (Monograph). SWX1687.

<7> Mills, A D, 1977, The place-names of Dorset, Part 1: the Isle of Purbeck, the hundreds of Rowbarrow, Hasler, Winfrith, Culliford Tree, Bere Regis, Barrow, Puddletown St George, 150 (Monograph). SWX972.

<8> Barton, J G, Various, Field Investigators Comments JGB, F2 JGB 16-JUN-81 (Unpublished document). SDO11900.

<9> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 2003, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 2002, 129 (Serial). SDO11600.

<10> Hewitt, I, Welham, K, and Whittle, L, 2004, Old Church of St Mary, East Stoke, Dorset. A Historical and Topographical Survey: Interim report. (Unpublished document). SDO14428.

<11> Environment Agency, 2010, Lidar DSM (Aerial Photograph). SDO13147.

<12> Historic England, Historic England Archive, OS52/F70/3 (Index). SDO14738.

ARCH OF PORCH OF ST MARY'S CHURCH, FROM SOUTH.

<13> National Record of the Historic Environment, 455133 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

May 1 2025 12:50PM