Church of St Mary Magdalene, North Poorton. Grade: II, SY 51872 98153. LeadvAuthor:PS
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North Poorton is a hamlet 3 miles south east of Beaminster. The old parish church of St Peter is a ruin, with remaining walls about 1.2 metres high just visible now in the undergrowth.
Just to the south is the new church (1a, 1b) which was built in 1861–62 to a design by John Hicks at a cost of £1,400. |
1a The church from the south-west.
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1b. The church from the north-east.
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The walls (2) of the exterior are rough tooled Inferior Oolite brickettes from quarries at Nettlecombe about 1.5 miles away. The quarries were owned by the Reverend Thomas Sanctuary who was also responsible for building a church at Powerstock and New Milton and a school in Powerstock. The roof is tiled. The windows surrounds and south doorway of the porch are Bath Stone (3a, 3b).
2. The exterior wall of the nave
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3a. The south porch
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3b. Detail on the south doorway
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The material from which the spire (4) is built was not determined, but through binoculars appears to be ashlar Inferior Oolite. There are Minton tiles on the floor of the porch (5). The inner doorway is also Bath Stone (5).
4. The spire
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5. The inner doorway
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The interior walls of the nave (6) are ashlar Inferior Oolite with a line of Bath Stone just below window height. The chancel arch (7a) is Bath Stone with a label bearing a decorative religious text. On either side is a suspended decorative column of red Mansfield Stone with leaf pattern carved in Caen Stone above and below (7b). Mansfield Stone is a Permian limestone, Cadeby Formation, from Nottinghamshire.
6. The interior from the west
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7. The chancel arch
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7b. A side column on the chancel arch
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The walls of the chancel are ashlar Bath Stone (8a, 8b). The plinth (9) on which the altar stands is paved with Minton tiles designed by Pugin and has a surround of Purbeck Marble (10).
8a. Ashlar Bath Stone in the chancel
9. The altar plinth
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8b. Loupe of the Bath Stone in the chancel
10. The Purbeck Marble in the altar plinth
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The 19th century octagonal font (11a, 11b) is Caen Stone, a Bathonian (166-168 Ma.) Middle Jurassic limestone from northern France. The font is supported by 8 colonettes of a fine-grained stone which was not identified (12a, 12b). Note: one source quotes the stone as Purbeck Marble which it does not appear to be.
11a.The font
12a The colonettes supporting the font
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11b. Loupe of the Caen Stone in the font
12b. Loupe of the stone in the colonnettes
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13. The old font
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There is also an old font (13) at the rear of the nave. The font came from the old church and was in the church for the dedication service as the new font was not ready. It appears to have suffered a time outdoors before being rescued and brought back into the building. It is possibly 14th century but weathering has made it difficult to identify the stone. The pulpit (14a) is Caen Stone with intricate carving by Grassby (14b) and a figure of Christ (14c) by fine-grained of Worcester (1862). On a window sill is a statue of the Madonna and Child which was originally in the church at West Milton (demolished in 1973). It is also carved in Caen Stone (15). |
14a. The pulpit
14c. The statue in the pulpit
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14b. Carving on the pulpit
15. Madonna and Child statue
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References
1) Hill M., Newman J., Pevsner N. (2018), The Buildings of England, Dorset, Yale U. Press, p.435
2) http://www.british-history.ac.uk/rchme/dorset/vol1/pp180-181
3) Information on the church notice board within the church.
1) Hill M., Newman J., Pevsner N. (2018), The Buildings of England, Dorset, Yale U. Press, p.435
2) http://www.british-history.ac.uk/rchme/dorset/vol1/pp180-181
3) Information on the church notice board within the church.
