St. Mary's Church, Morden (lead author: JT)
SY91618 95614; Lat/Long, 50.760057  -2.1202039

The  parish of Morden is in east Dorset, north of the Purbeck Hills, between Wareham and Blandford. The parish is within the Charborough Park estate, and St. Mary’s Church was rebuilt in 1873. Only the lower part of the tower is original 13th century work. The whole building is heathstone, much of it re-used. The heathstone is of mixed texture, some blocks are dark brown, 0.2mm sharp sand, not all iron stained, so this may be from the Poole Formation. Some that may have come from the older building in the west wall is sub-rounded, iron stained 0.3mm. This may be the Lytchett Matravers Sandstone, which continues westwards on the ridge through Charborough Park. The walls therefore illustrate the difficulty of identification to any particular Formation.
The dressings of windows and doorways are of Ham Hill Stone.

St. Mary's Church from the south. Photo: JT

The church tower. Photo: JT.

Close-up of the Heathstone. Photo: JT

The south window, showing the contrast between the Heathstone and the Ham Stone. Photo: JT.