Maiden Newton

Church of St Mary, Maiden Newton. Grade: 1. NGR: SY 59627 97884. Lead author: PS

The church (1) stands at the north end of the village. The church has parts dating from the 12th century to the 19th century. The west wall of the nave is dated to the 12th century. The chancel and central tower were built about 1400. There is a mid-15th century south aisle and transept but no north aisle or transept. A vestry was built adjacent to the chancel on the north side in the late 19th century.

1. The Church from the south-east

The nave is covered with a lead sheet roof. The chancel and vestry roofs are covered with Victorian red tiles. The porch has a stone slab roof. Most of the windows are Ham Hill Stone. The exceptions are the two windows in the south wall of the chancel (see later).
The main building stones used are knapped Flint probably from local Chalk quarries, Purbeck Cypris Freestone probably from the Ridgeway quarries some 10 miles distant and Ham Hill Stone from Somerset.

The church layout (simplified) (2)

The exterior

The northern end of the west wall (3a, 3b) is one of the earliest parts of the of the church. It dates to about 1150. The west doorway and the west window were inserted in about 1450. They are Ham Hill Stone. The lower part of the wall below the string line comprises uncoursed knapped Flint with a scattering of various types of rubble stone including Cypris Freestone, Ham Hill Stone, and other blocks not identified, possibly Purbeck limestone (3c, 3d), all embedded in extensive render. Above the string line, the wall is roughly coursed with blocks of Cypris freestone with lines of knapped Flint in between. On the diagonal buttress is a block of Ham Hill Stone inscribed ‘ER 1831’ (4), presumably the date of the buttress.

3a. The west wall

3b.Part of the west wall

3c. Not identified

3d. Loupe image of unidentified limestone.

The southern end of the west wall dates from the mid to late 15th century (5). The wall is roughly coursed with Ham Hill Stone and Cypris Freestone and includes brick rubble.

4. The Inscription

5. The west wall of the south aisle.

The western end of the south wall of the south aisle also has coursed rubble and Flint but has only blocks of Cypris Freestone below window level (6).
The north wall of the nave (7) has stonework of mixed ages. The mid-15th century walling above the lean-to is mainly Cypris Freestone with a few blocks of Ham Hill Stone but very few knapped Flints can be seen (8).

6.The west end of the south wall of the south aisle

7. The north-west wall.

8. The wall above the lean-to.

The Norman doorway (9a) has columns of Ham Hill Stone either side. The Norman door, which is behind a protective sheet of glass, is blocked in above by ashlar Ham Hill Stone. The Norman zig-zag voussoir above is also Ham Hill Stone. The stonework either side of the door is Cypris Freestone (9b).

9a. The Norman doorway

9b. Part of the Norman doorway.

A 19th century supporting wall of Cypris Freestone has been built where the Nave wall meets the tower wall (10a). The lowest stage of the central tower (10a) north wall is an original part of the mid-12th century church and is mainly Flint in render. The middle and upper stages including the balustrade are coursed rubble stone which appear, by looking through binoculars, to be Cypris Freestone with occasional Ham Hill Stone (10b).

10a. The tower

10b. The upper part of the tower

The vestry and organ chamber (11) were added in 1896 and occupy the eastern end of the north side of the church. The lower part of the walls consists of roughly coursed stone, mainly from Ham Hill. The wall above are coursed bands of Flint and ashlar Cypris Freestone.

11. The 19th century vestry

12a. The east wall of the chancel.

The chancel east wall is dated to the mid-15th century (12a). The lower part is made up of blocks of Cypris Freestone above which are coursed ashlar blocks of Cypris Freestone with rows of knapped Flints in between (12b). The chancel south wall (13a) does not have any Flints but consists of a ashlar Purbeck Cypris Freestone with occasional blocks of Ham Hill stone in the upper part of the wall. The doorway in the south wall is Cypris Freestone with a Ham Hill arch above (13b). The two window surrounds are Cypris Freestone with Ham Hill tracery (13c).

12b. Lower part of the east wall.

13a. The south side of the chancel

13b. Window in the chancel's south wall

13c. Doorway in the chancel's south wall

The south transept (14), also mid-15th century in date, is banded Flint and ashlar Cypris Freestone. The parapet is Ham Hill Stone, probably later in date.

14. The south transept.

15. The south porch

The south porch (circa 1500) was build using material from an earlier building (15). The external doorway consists of Cypris Freestone with ostracods visible under magnification (16). The east (17a) and west walls (17b) consist of various blocks of Ham Hill Stone, small blocks of Cypris Freestone and Portland stone. The porch roof is mainly Ham Hill Stone but there are also grey slabs which could be Forest Marble or Blue Lias.

16. Ostracods in Cypris Freestone

17a. East side of the porch

17b. West side of the porch

18. The inner doorwat

The interior

The interior walls are plastered. The chancel arch (19) and the south aisle arcade (20) were rebuilt in about 1400. They are Ham Hill Stone. In about the middle of the 15th century the south arcade and the south aisle were rebuilt and the south transept added. All are discernible as being Ham Hill Stone under layers of whitewash of varying thickness. The south transept has a piscina in Ham Hill Stone (21).