Bridport

Parish Church of St. Mary, South St, Bridport. Grade 1, NGR: SY 46577 92595. Lead author: PAS

The origin of Bridport is as a Saxon point of defence against the Danish raiders and later as a market town. It features as Port Bredy in Thomas Hardy's Wessex and has a long history as a centre for rope-making. The town has a history of non-conformism and by 1865 the parish church of St Mary's was outnumbered by other religious buildings by seven to one.

Outline history of the building
St. Mary’s church (1) was built in the early 13th century probably on the site of a Saxon church. There have been three main phases of development with minor alterations in the intervening centuries. The church was greatly enlarged in the late 14th and early 15th century (recorded re-dedication 1403) when the north and south aisles, the south nave chapel and south porch were built and the central tower erected. Minor alterations were also carried out in the late 15th century when the north and south transept windows were replaced. Galleries were added over the aisles in 1717 and 1790 but did not entail major alterations to the exterior.

1. St Mary's from the north side.

No alterations of note occurred until 1859 when a major refurbishment and building programme was started using the architect John Hicks of Dorchester to whom his rather more famous assistant, Thomas Hardy was articled. The galleries were removed, the nave extended to the west and the chancel re-built.

The exterior
The church sits on a plinth of Forest Marble. The roofs are covered with tiles and lead. The stonework in the exterior of the church is predominantly coursed blocks of Inferior Oolite limestone with some early stonework in Forest Marble limestone. The window and doorway dressings are of Ham Hill stone and/or Inferior Oolite. The buttresses are Inferior Oolite with Ham Hill Stone capping. Both Forest Marble and Inferior Oolite were quarried locally. The Inferior Oolite limestone may have come from quarries at Allington, and the Forest Marble limestone from quarries at Bothenhampton.

The 13th century church may have been built of Forest Marble limestone. The only original 13th century stonework which remains in the walls is in the outer walls of the north and south transepts and is Forest Marble (2 and 3). The lancet windows in the north and south walls of the transepts are of Ham Hill Stone (2). They also date back to the 13th century but have been so heavily restored that little, if any, of the original stonework remains. The doorway below the window (also 2) in the west wall of the north transept is a 19thcentury insert. The stair turret in the same photograph was added in the15th century when the central tower was built. Later in the 15th century (1486) very large windows were inserted in the north and south walls of the transepts (3). These are of Ham Hill Stone but the sill of the south transept window is Forest Marble.

2. West side of north transept.

3. North wall of North Transept Forest Marble walling, late 15th window.

The perpendicular 3-light windows in the nave are 14th to early 15th century placements, inserted when the nave was widened to provide two side aisles. Most are predominantly Ham Hill stone but Inferior Oolite can be seen in some windows on the north side (4). Possibly this was the original stone which was replaced later with Ham Hill Stone due to weathering. The matching windows in the chancel, which are all Ham Hill Stone, are part of the 19th century refurbishment (5)

4. Nave window with Inferior Oolite and Ham Hill Stone.

5. 15th century windows in north wall of nave of Ham Hill Stone.

The west front (6) is an example of the stonework of the 19th century extension of the nave to the west. The walls are coursed blocks of Inferior Oolite with the window and doorway of Ham Hill Stone. The date is inscribed either side of the doorway. The carved head stops of bishops are Ham Hill Stone (7).

6. The west front.

7. Head stop embellishment on west doorway.

The stonework in the two storey south porch is completely Inferior Oolite, including both outer and inner doorways (8 and 9). Interestingly it also has a chimney on the south west side adjacent to the nave. Against the west side of the porch is a 15th century carved monument in very poor condition (10). It was moved from the Chapel of St. Andrew built in 1362 and which stood on the site of the current Town Hall when it was demolished in1798. The stone is Inferior Oolite

8. The south Porch.

9. The south doorway.

10. St Andrew's chapel monument.

The Interior
The nave has side aisles with an arcade either side (11). The four eastern pillars in each arcade were built in the early 15th century and are Inferior Oolite with Ham Hill stone arches (12). The pillars supporting the central tower of the same date are also Inferior Oolite with Ham Hill stone arches. The arcades were extended by two bays to the west in the 19th century. These pillars are Bath Stone (12 and 13).

11. View of the Nave from the west.

12. Left -Inferior Oolite pillar Right-Bath Stone pillar.

13. Loupe of Bath Stone in a 19th century pillar.

The 15th century octagonal font is made of Inferior Oolite (14). The carved Caen Stone pulpit (1860) features a scene from the Sermon on the Mount beneath three ogee arches (15).

14. The font.

15. The Caen Stone pulpit.

In the north transept is a cross-legged effigy of a knight in chain mail (16). The carving is in Ham Hill stone and dates to the mid 13th century but has been patched and restored in the 19th century giving the figure a modern face. The plinth is Inferior Oolite. Also, on the west wall of the north transept is an alabaster wall plaque to Harriet Templar (1817 -1905) which was re-sited from the mid-19th century St. Andrew’s Church (not the demolished chapel) in the neighbouring parish of Bradpole when it closed in 1978 (17). This church was also built of Inferior Oolite and is now used as a storage facility.

16. Effigy of a knight.

17. Harriet Templar wall plaque.

The flooring in most of the church consists of modern light cream block paving but a number of 17th century grave slabs and some worn Purbeck limestone paving has been retained in the floor area beneath the tower. One of the grave slabs is red Purbeck Marble blackened with age (18). Another is most probably Blue Lias (19a) as number of fossils of the bivalve Gryphaea can be seen in the surface (19b).

18. Purbeck Marble grave slab.

19a. Blue Lias grave slab.

19b. Close up of Blue Lias grave slab showing Gryphaea.

Historical and Architectural sources
1) Pitfield, F.P. (1981) Dorset Parish Churches A - D, pp. 105 – 110, Pub. Dorset Publishing Co. ISBN 0 902129600.
2) ‘Bridport’, in An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Dorset, Volume 1, accessed on line at:
British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/rchme/dorset/vol1/ (pp. 107-110)
PAS 2018-11-08