Parish Church of Saint Peter, Church Knowle, Grade 2*.
NGR: SY9407 881938. Lead author: PAS.
The village lies in the Purbeck Hills a few miles to the west of Corfe Castle. The parish has a history of settlement dating back to the Bronze Age and Christianity was established in the community by the 11th century although no trace of an earlier church has been found.
The exterior
The church dates mainly to the 13th century including 10 original windows (1 and 2). The tower and porch were added in the 14th century but the upper part of the tower was rebuilt in the 18th century. The addition of the north aisle between 1833 and 1841to accommodate a gallery and organ loft in the interior involved the demolition of the north wall of the nave and west wall of the north transept. The fabric of this wall differs little from the original walls elsewhere in the building so is probably re-used stone. The building is roofed with Purbeck limestone flags.
The church dates mainly to the 13th century including 10 original windows (1 and 2). The tower and porch were added in the 14th century but the upper part of the tower was rebuilt in the 18th century. The addition of the north aisle between 1833 and 1841to accommodate a gallery and organ loft in the interior involved the demolition of the north wall of the nave and west wall of the north transept. The fabric of this wall differs little from the original walls elsewhere in the building so is probably re-used stone. The building is roofed with Purbeck limestone flags.
1. View from the south-west.
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2. View from the north.
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The walls are of Purbeck stone rubble blocks with ashlar blocks used in quoins and buttresses. The stone is mainly Upper Purbeck Broken Shell limestone also known locally as ‘Burr’ and which was quarried locally (3). There is a scattering of Purbeck Marble blocks in the walls much degraded and rusty in appearance (4a and b). One or two ironstone blocks have also been noted (5). The original windows are also Burr (6). There are 19th century replacement windows in the east and west walls of the north aisle. The stone used is a limestone of similar composition to the stone used for the internal steps up to the gallery (7) which were installed at about the same time. The stone has been provisionally identified as Purbeck Thornback or Grub.
3. Close-up of 12th Century Broken Shell Limestone.
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4a. Wall with Purbeck Marble.
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4b. Purbeck Marble in the south wall.
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5. Ironstone in the porch wall.
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6. An original window.
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7. Stone used for the gallery steps.
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The interior
There is a 14th century carved stone basin (stoop) in the angle of the east wall of the porch with the nave south wall which is of Burr (8). It was found embedded in the west wall and repositioned in 1956. Just inside the south door is a 20th century offerings box made of a limestone quarried in Purbeck provisionally identified as Portland Freestone Spangle (9a and b). |
8. The stoop.
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9a. The offerings box.
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9b. Close-up of the stone.
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The interior walls have been plastered and the wooden structure of the 19th century gallery and supporting columns occupies the north side of the church. The floor is paved with Purbeck limestone flags. The 13th century chancel arch and the two side arches (10a) of Burr have at some time (possibly 16th century) been embellished with a painted frieze of ivy leaves and flowers (10b). There is also a 13th century piscina in the chancel south wall, also Burr (11)
10a. The chancel arch.
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10b. Chancel arch frieze.
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11. The piscina.
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A limestone altar top on which are inscribed 5 consecration crosses (12) in the south transept was discovered in 1927 as a floor slab in the north aisle. The limestone has not been identified. Burr has also been used in 2 broken coffin slabs on the adjacent window sill (13a and b). The 19th century octagonal font (14) is Portland Limestone. The 16th century Clavell Memorial, situated against the east wall of the north aisle is also Portland limestone (Photo 15). The monument was erected by John Clavell in 1572 and features brasses dedicated to family members.
12. Consecration crosses.
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13a. Coffin lid 1.
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13b. Coffin lid 2.
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14. The font.
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15. Clavell monument.
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Historical and architectural sources
1) Pitfield, F.P. (1985) Purbeck Parish Churches, pp. 105 – 110, Pub. Dorset Publishing Co.
ISBN 0 902129 71 6.
2)‘ Church Knowle', in An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Dorset, Volume 2, accessed on line at:
British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/rchme/dorset/vol2/ pp41-49
PAS 2018-11-18.
1) Pitfield, F.P. (1985) Purbeck Parish Churches, pp. 105 – 110, Pub. Dorset Publishing Co.
ISBN 0 902129 71 6.
2)‘ Church Knowle', in An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Dorset, Volume 2, accessed on line at:
British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/rchme/dorset/vol2/ pp41-49
PAS 2018-11-18.
