Listed Building record MDO9381 - Church of Saint John, Tolpuddle

Parish church. The church was built in the twelfth century and enlarged in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The building was restored in 1855, to plans by the architect T H Wyatt.

Parish Church of St. John, Tolpuddle built of rubble and flint with ashlar dressings has an early 12th century nave which still retains the south doorway of that date. The remainder of the church consists of additions made between the 13th and 16th centuries with restorations of 1855 and 1885. (see plan for details). The church is notable for the 12th century carved effigy of Philip, a priest. <2>

The tympanum over the South doorway is a plain semi-circle as is that over the North doorway. Both early C12th. <5>

Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1910, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Antiquarian Field Club 31, xxii (Serial). SDO21.

A COFFIN LID AT TOLPUDDLE. Mr. W. DE C. PRIDEAUX exhibited a plaster cast of an early stone coffin lid, at Tolpuddle, having an effigy in low relief with an inscription around it. The PRESIDENT said the Club were much indebted to Mr. Prideaux for getting this portion of the stone slab out and making the plaster cast of it. £2 was voted towards the estimated cost (£5) of getting removed from the wall the lower portion of the slab which is embedded in it.

Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1912, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Antiquarian Field Club 33, xxii (Serial). SDO22.

RECOVERY OF A 12 CENTURY EFFIGY. For many years (probably since the "restoration" of the Church in 1855) a large slab bearing the upper part of a priest's figure has lain embedded in the turf to the south of the chancel. The Rural Dean reported to the Bishop on more than one occasion the desirability of bringing this valuable memorial within the church. Thanks to the energy of the present Vicar, and of Mr. W. de C. Prideaux (a prominent member of our Club), the work was put in hand last year. The crowning achievement, however, has been the discovery and removal of the remaining portion of the slab, which has been built into the quoign of the Chancel wall. This year the whole was put together, and now occupies a worthy resting-place in the north transept of the church.The effigy is that of a priest in Eucharistic vestments. Around the plinth is the following inscription, in typical characters of the 12th century : SI QS AMAT. . . PM Q SARCOPHAGVM ISTVM. . .DICAT PRESBITERO REQVIEM DA CRISTE PHILIPPO. The Club contributed 2 towards the cost of the work, which has
been admirably carried out.

Dorset Natural History and Antiquarian Field Club, 1912, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1911, lvi (Serial). SDO20304.

Past Burleston, with its fragment of derelict church hiding mournfully and almost shame-facedly among its trees, the Club drove on to Tolpuddle Church, where their new member, the Rev. HAROLD LONG (Vicar), received them fraternally, and, having studied the church in company with the Rev. C. W. H. Dicker, gave some information about the fabric.
During the reign of Henry I., the revenues of Abbotsbury Abbey, to to which Tolpuddle belonged, were annexed by Bp. Roger of Sarum. About this period a Romanesque Church was built here (in Bp. Roger's style), remains of which are seen in the north and south doorways. Most of the present building is of the late 13th, or early 14th Century character frequently met with in Dorset, the arches having plain splayed faces. The original summit of the tower is marked by a row of corbels, which probably carried a pyramidal roof ; the chancel has been twice rebuilt within modern times ; the present one was erected in 1885, when a part of the north aisle was also rebuilt. The south transept was built in 1855, but the arch is old work. The upper story of the tower is of the 15th Century, and the west window is Perpendicular.
During the last year, mainly through the energy of Mr. W. de C. Prideaux (of our Club) a portion of a coffin-lid of stone, bearing the effigy of a priest of the 12th Century, has been recovered and placed in the church. It was surrounded by an inscription in " Lombardic " letters, beginning Si quis amat and ending Criste Phillippo. The remaining portion of the stone is discernible in the north-east quoin of the chancel, and arrangements have been made to get it removed.

Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1983, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1983, 152 (Serial). SDO83.

Le Pard, Gordon, 1998, Medieval sundials in Dorset. Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society 119, 70 Fig 1.10, 83 (Article in serial). SDO21411.

<1> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1902 (Map). SWX1540.

(SY 79079449) St. John'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, 288-289 (Monograph). SDO136.

<3> Newman, J, and Pevsner, N, 1972, The Buildings of England: Dorset, 426 (Monograph). SWX1290.

<4> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1985, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1984, 13, 20 (Serial). SDO84.

<5> National Record of the Historic Environment, 454922 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Aug 26 2025 11:51AM