Listed Building record MDO9479 - Church of All Saints, Gussage All Saints

Parish church, 14th century with upper stage of tower 15th century. North vestry and general restoration of 1864, by Ewan Christian. Flint and rubble walls with ashlar dressings; tower partly in ashlar and partly in banded flint and ashlar. Tiled roofs with gable stone copings. Shallow 2-stage buttresses. Nave, chancel, south tower above porch and north vestry.

The parish church of All Saints has flint and rubble walls with ashlar dressings and tile covered roofs. The chancel, nave and the lower part of the south tower are of the early 14th century. The upper stages of the tower are 15th century. The church was restored and re-roofed in 1864, when a new chancel arch was built and the north vestry was added. <1, 4>

Church of All Saints. Grade I. <3, 5>

Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1897, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Antiquarian Field Club for 1896, 83-86 (Serial). SDO10.

Mr. Stent wishes me to take his place as describer of his church. The task is not a difficult one. No one need be told how well this church stands a veritable city set on a hill. Its length and the position of its Tower, rising on its S. side, and about a quarter of the nave's length from the W. end, are unusual. Its style the Decorated the richest of the Gothic or pointed styles, and its being built, with one exception, in one style, are other, not common features about it, in village churches, in this part of England, certainly. I may as well point out the exception I allude to at once. The two storeys of the tower are undoubtedly of the E.E. or preceding period. But the top storey is Decorated. The newel external staircase to the belfry is an architectural gem. On the other hand, the finials (or pinnacles), on the top of the tower, are uncomfortably supported on projecting corbels and look as if they would at any moment topple over. The builders seem to have been mightily afraid of a settlement in the W. wall of the Nave, which they have buttressed up, not, as usual, with one angle buttress at each corner, but with double buttresses run up, at right angles to each other, and with an additional support in the middle, carried as high as the window sill.
Passing through the porch, which is formed out of the ground storey of the tower, the four large corbels should be noticed with the emblems of the Passion. You should look at the jambs of the entrance door ; they are very bold, yet simple. You may notice some mason marks or dedicative crosses on them,
When I went into the church the other day it struck me that I was entering a handsome college chapel, rather than a village church, It is the absence of aisles, very rare in an English church of this size, that gave me this impression. Then the bold string course, running shoulder high along the walls of the nave, and surmounting, by gradual steps, both existing and disused doorways, is remarkable.
The Font is contemporaneous with the church ; it is of Purbeck marble, well worn, and lined with lead. The internal hood mouldings to the windows deserve special notice. Perhaps I should call them the headings of the internal arches of the windows. They are ornamented with five, and, in the case of the W. window, with seven short cusps. You should observe the two piscinae in the nave, as well as the one in the south chancel wall. The former were discovered in the course of the restoration in 1865. So the beading, with knops at its end in both cases, must have been added, and so probably was added the projecting portion of the chancel piscina, and its supporting angel corbel. For the account of the church furnished to the last editors of Hutchins, by the Incumbent (and it was the use of this mode of getting information from the Incumbent of each parish, about his church, that makes some of the descriptions of churches in this edition of our County history so much better than others), tells us " This Chancel has been wholly rebuilt." This was under the superintendence of the late Mr. Ewan Christian. The late Mr. Hicks, of Dorchester, was the architect employed for restoring the nave.
About the floors lie two brass plates, with inscriptions dated 1508 and 1574 respectively. You should especially observe the canopied arch overhanging a slab now in the N. wall of the Nave towards the E. This is probably the Founder's tomb. At the restoration of 1865 the skeleton of a large-sized man was found beneath it.
The arch over the opening to the organ chamber was once the chancel arch. If this be the case, to be consistent with what I gave as my opinion before you, in the somewhat parallel case of the Charminster Chancel arch, I ought to condemn such a removal ; but I am bound to say that had that arch, with its contracted height and span, been rebuilt in its old position, you would have lost, in some measure, that bright and cheerful effect, which the loftier and wider modem chancel arch gives to the edifice as you now see it, which edifice must be a delightful one to officiate and to worship in. There is an Elizabethan Chalice, or "Coupe" (as it is called on the inscription), in the vestry, which you should look at, and the Parish Register is also in the vestry for inspection ; it dates from 1560, but the similarity of writing in the first few pages show, in my opinion, that the earlier entries were not contemporaneous.

DESCRIPTION OP THE BELLS, BY REV. W. HERBERT STENT, VICAR.
One of the most interesting features of this church is its ancient bells. Three of them are probably coeval with the top part of the tower. They bear the following inscriptions, the spelling of which is, I am led to understand, evidence of their antiquity :
2nd Sancta Anna Ora Po Nobis
3rd Sanc Te Petre Ora Pro Nobis
TENOR. + In Ter Sede Pia Pronobis Virgo Maria
TREBLE. FEARE GOD. I. W. 1621.
The stern command on this last bell bears witness to the different spirit that had come over the country and the Church in the 17th century. The initials I. W. are said to proclaim it the work of John Wallis, the famous bell-founder, of Salisbury. Rubbings of the inscriptions may be seen by those who do not care to climb the tower.
To some, perhaps, of greater interest than the antiquity of the belfry, will be the recent successful repair of the tenor bell by Herr Ohlsson, of Lubeck, a Norwegian brazier. The bell was cracked and had been condemned to the melting pot. But we were most anxious to save it, and having heard of Herr Ohlsson, I entered into communication with him. Numerous authorities on bells prophesied failure. In the hope of saving this most interesting feature of our church we risked the cost of an experiment. Herr Ohlsson came here rather more than twelve months ago ; the bell was completely restored, and I may add that it has been frequently rung and constantly chimed since that time. Two English bell-hangers who have recently visited us (and who were amongst those who predicted failure) now consider the repair a complete success.
Since the above was written a fifth bell has been added, bearing the inscription
" Sancte Jesu Intercede pro nobis."

<1> DOE (HHR), 1951, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest: Wimborne and Cranborne RD, 5 (Scheduling record). SDO17339.

<2> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1963 (Map). SWX1540.

(ST 99841082) All Saints' Church (NAT)

<3> Newman, J, and Pevsner, N, 1972, The Buildings of England: Dorset, 218 (Monograph). SWX1290.

<4> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1975, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume V (East), 18-19, No 1 Plan & Photo (Monograph). SDO129.

‘(1) The Parish Church of All Saints, in the N.W. of the village, has flint and rubble walls with ashlar dressings, and tile-covered roofs (Plate 3). The Chancel, Nave and the lower part of the South Tower are of the early 14th century; the upper stages of the tower are of the 15th century. The church was restored and re-roofed in 1864, and at this time a new chancel arch was built and the N. vestry was added.

Architectural Description— The Chancel has an E. window of three gradated cinquefoil-headed lights with pierced spandrel lights under a two-centred head; the rear-arch is segmental-pointed with septfoil cusping. The buttresses are of two stages with weathered offsets. The N. wall has a window of two trefoil-headed lights with a cusped spandrel light under a two-centred head, with a segmental-pointed rear-arch with cinquefoil cusping. The archway to the N. vestry is said to incorporate stones from the original chancel arch (Dorset Procs., XVII (1896), 84); it is segmental-pointed and of three chamfered orders. The S. wall has two windows uniform with that on the N. and, between them, a doorway with a chamfered two-centred head, continuous jambs and a chamfered segmental-pointed rear-arch.

The Nave has three N. windows similar to those on N. and S. of the chancel, but with cinquefoil-headed lights. The blocked N. doorway has a two-centred head with continuous jambs, rounded in section, and a chamfered segmental-pointed rear-arch. The buttresses are of ashlar and have two weathered stages and heavily chamfered plinths. Inside, a moulded string-course at window-sill level on the N. wall is carried as a label across the rear-arch of the N. doorway; similar string-courses occur on the E., W. and S. sides of the nave. The S. wall has windows uniform with those on the N., and similar buttresses, but with double chamfered plinths. The S. doorway has a two-centred head of two orders, the outer order chamfered, the inner rounded, with continuous jambs; the segmental-pointed rear-arch is chamfered. The W. wall of the nave has a window uniform with that on the E. of the chancel, and buttresses similar to those on the S. of the nave.

The South Tower is of three stages defined by weathered and moulded string-courses; the lower stage is original, the upper stages are of 15th-century date. The lower stage, with angle buttresses of two stages with weathered offsets and double chamfered plinths, is two-storeyed, the lower storey forming a South Porch with an archway with a two-centred head of two chamfered orders, continuous jambs and shaped stops. The upper storey of the lower stage is a ringing chamber with E., W. and S. lancet windows. The three-stage vice turret, added in the 15th century, terminates in the second stage of the tower and has a weathered head. The doorway at the foot of the vice, with a chamfered two-centred head, is of 1864; previously the stair was entered from the porch. The second stage of the tower has ashlar and flint banding; on the N. is a square-headed window. The third stage, of ashlar, has in each face a belfry window of two trefoil-headed lights with a central quatrefoil above, in a two-centred head with a label. The corners of the third stage have pilasters which continue as pinnacles in the restored embattled parapet and end in crocketed finials.

Fittings—Bells: five; treble modern, 2nd with 'Feare God, I.W. 1621' in Roman capitals, 3rd with 'Sancta Anna Ora Po (sic) Nobis', 4th with 'Sane Te Petre Ora Pro Nobis', 5th with 'In Ter Sede Pia Pronobis Virgo Maria'; 3rd, 4th and 5th, black-letter, from Salisbury foundry, mid 15th-century. Brasses: In nave floor, on E., plate (19 ins. by 4 ins.) with Latin black-letter inscription of Isabella Whitwod, 1508; adjacent on W., plate (11½ ins. by 4½ ins.) with English black-letter inscription of Richard Pane, 1574. Chair: of oak, with turned and moulded front legs and stretchers, carved and moulded rails, shaped arm rests, panelled back now reversed, and shaped cresting, mid 17th century. Door: at foot of tower stair, plain oak with strap-hinges, perhaps 15th century. Font: Purbeck marble, with octagonal bowl, moulded below, on cylindrical stem and hollow chamfered cylindrical stone base; early 14th century.

Monument and Floor-slab. Monument: In nave, in N. wall (Plate 12), shallow recess with crocketed ogee head with foliate and hollow-chamfered cusping, subcusping and ball-flower enrichment, flanked by pinnacles with gabled and crocketed finials, 14th century (Dorset Procs., XVII (1896), 84). Floor-slab: In nave, of John Brewer, 1805, Sarah his wife, 1816, and others of their family.

Organ: By Walker, in mahogany case with round-headed openings flanked by pilasters with swags, with moulded entablature and central cartouche with shields-of-arms probably of Willis and Calandrine; late 18th century, said to have been used by Sir James Turle.

Piscinae: In chancel in S. wall, restored bowl in recess with cinquefoil two-centred head, continuous jambs and shaped stops; in nave, near E. end of N. wall, bowl in recess with trefoil two-centred head, continuous jambs and shaped stops, sill restored; near E. end of S. wall, similar to the foregoing; all early 14th century.

Plate: includes silver cup, probably late 16th century, with strapwork band on bowl and trellis pattern above knop, inscribed 'The Cope of Alhollone Guysshedge Parrishe'; stand-paten with assay marks of 1784, baluster shaped stem and donor's inscription of 1833; also two pewter alms-dishes, probably early 19th century.

Recess: see Monument.’

<5> DOE (HHR), 1986, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest: Wimborne District, 14 (Scheduling record). SDO18076.

<6> National Record of the Historic Environment, 210125 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Aug 22 2025 5:36PM