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Church of St. Peter, Pimperne. Grade: II*, NGR: ST 90370 09415  Lead author: PS

The village is situated on Cranborne Chase 2 miles (3.2 km) northeast of the town of Blandford Forum. The first records of Pimperne go back to the Domesday Book in the late 11th century, where it is recorded as "Pinpre", but it is believed that the village goes back to Anglo-Saxon times.
​The church (1) is situated near the north-west end of the village. It was rebuilt in 1870 at the expense of Viscount Portman of Bryanston. Only the west tower which is of the mid 15th century was retained from the old church but some features were reset in the present church such as the 12th-century chancel arch and the original south doorway.

Picture
1. View of the church from the south east

The tower
The first three stages in the tower (2) are Shaftesbury Sandstone. The 4th stage added later is ashlar Corallian limestone (3). All the tower windows are Shaftesbury Sandstone. There is a repair with new Shaftesbury Sandstone in the west window (4).
Picture
2. The tower from the west
Picture
3. the top of the tower
Picture
4. Repair in the west window

The north and south aisle walls
The walls of the north and south aisles are identical in design and are blocks of Wardour Main Building Stone (WMBS, formerly known as Chilmark Stone) in different sizes as seen in 5 and 6.
Picture
5. The south aisle
Picture
6. The chancel east wall

​The windows are all Corallian limestone (7, 8).
Picture
7. A south aisle window
Picture
8. Detail of the chancel east window

​The south porch
The south porch (9) has exterior walls of WMBS (10) with diagonal buttresses of Corallian limestone with Todber Freestone inset (11). The exterior of the outer doorway is WMBS (10) but the inside of the doorway is Corallian limestone. The interior of the porch is lined with ashlar Corallian limestone. 
Picture
9. The south porch
Picture
10. Loupe of the stone in the outer doorway of the porch
Picture
11. Detail of a buttress adjacent to the outer doorway

The 12th century internal doorway was originally the outer south doorway of the old church leading into the nave. It is now set into the west wall of the south aisle and accessed via the porch. It is Norman in design and is Corallian limestone (12). The chevron arch and tympanum above are original (13). The bases, shafts and abachi are 19th century replacements. There is a small doorway on the inner south wall of the porch which gives access to the tower and is Shaftesbury Sandstone (14).
 

Picture
12. The inner doorway
Picture
13. the Norman arch
Picture
14. The tower doorway

Interior to be added later
​
References
  1. https://britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/101110839-church-of-st-peter-pimperne
  2. https://www.british-history.ac.uk/rchme/dorset/vol4/pp52-55
  3. Hill M., Newman J., Pevsner N. (2018), The Buildings of England, Dorset, Yale U. Press, p.449
Picture

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  • Home
    • About Us
    • Glossary
    • References and Sources
    • Work in Progress
  • Building stones
    • How we study building stones
    • Palaeogene >
      • Heathstone
      • Sarsens
    • Cretaceous >
      • Chalk
      • Flint
      • Upper Greensand
      • Chert
      • Wealden
      • Purbeck >
        • Upper Purbeck (Purbeck Marble)
        • Upper Purbeck (Broken Shell Lst. aka Burr)
        • Middle Purbeck (Upper Building Stones)
        • Lower Purbeck (Cypris Freestones)
    • Jurassic >
      • Lower Purbeck >
        • Cypris Freestones
      • Portland Stone - Dorset
      • Chert
      • Kimmeridge Bay Dolomitic Limestone
      • Corallian
      • Cornbrash
      • Forest Marble
      • Fuller's Earth Rock
      • Inferior Oolite
      • Bridport Sands
      • Junction Bed
      • Blue Lias
    • Dorset Bricks
    • Non-Dorset Stone >
      • Tertiary >
        • Bembridge Limestones - Isle Of Wight
      • Cretaceous >
        • Beer Stone - SE Devon
      • Jurassic >
        • Bath Stone - Somerset & Wilts
        • Blue Lias of Somerset
        • Doulting Stone - Somerset
        • Ham Hill Stone - Somerset
        • Portland Limestone – Wilts (Chilmark)
        • Normandy >
          • Pierre de Caen (Caen Stone)
        • Pas de Calais
      • Triassic: White Lias of SE Devon
      • Carboniferous >
        • Carboniferous Limestones: Polished Black
      • Devonian
    • Building Stone Trails >
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    • Stone Index >
      • Stone Index A-B >
        • Abbotsbury Ironstone
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        • Broken Shell Limestone
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      • Stone Index C-E >
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        • Chert
        • Chilmark Lower Building Stone
        • Chilmark Main Building Stone
        • Chilmark Stone
        • Chilmark Upper Buiding Stone
        • Clavellata Beds
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        • Clunch
        • Corallian
        • Cornbrash
        • Cypris Freestone
      • Stone Index F-O >
        • Featherbed Limestone
        • Featherstone
        • Forest Marble
        • Flint
        • Fuller's Earth Rock
        • Grey Chalk
        • Ham Hill Stone
        • Heathstone
        • Inferior Oolite
        • Ironstone
        • Lower Chalk
        • Lower Lias
        • Melbury Sandstone
        • Middle Chalk
        • Middle Lias
        • New Vein
        • Osmington Oolite
      • Stone Index P-T >
        • Portland Cherty Beds
        • Portland Cherty Series
        • Portland Stone
        • Purbeck Marble
        • Purbeck Stone
        • Quarr Stone
        • Rag
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        • Tisbury Stone
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        • Trigonia Beds
      • Stone Index U-Z >
        • Upper Chalk
        • Wardour Lower Building Stone
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        • Weald Clay
        • White Chalk
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  • Churches
    • A-Z of Churches
    • East Dorset >
      • Almer
      • Bournemouth >
        • Talbot Village
      • Canford Magna Chapel
      • Corfe Mullen
      • Christchurch Priory
      • Cranborne
      • Edmondsham
      • Gussage All Saints
      • Gussage St. Andrew
      • Hampreston
      • Kinson
      • Knowlton
      • Morden
      • Pamphill
      • Poole St.James
      • Poole, the Spire Church
      • Shapwick
      • Sturminster Marshall
      • Tarrant Crawford
      • Tarrant Keyneston
      • West Parley
      • Wimborne St.Giles
      • Wimborne Minster Exterior Tour
      • Wimborne Minster Interior
      • Wimborne Minster: Purbeck Marble and Decorative Stone
    • Central Dorset >
      • Bloxworth
      • Bradford Peverell
      • Cerne Abbas
      • Hilton
      • Lytchett Matravers
      • Stratton
      • The Piddle Valley >
        • Affpuddle
        • Alton Pancras
        • Bere Regis
        • Piddlehinton
        • Piddletrenthide
        • Puddletown
        • Tolpuddle
      • Winterborne Tomson
    • North Dorset >
      • Batcombe
      • Belchalwell
      • Blandford Parish Church
      • Blandford St. Leonard's Chapel
      • Blandford St. Mary
      • Blandford Cemetery Chapels
      • Bradford Abbas
      • Chetnole
      • Child Okeford
      • Compton Abbas
      • Farnham
      • Folke
      • Gillingham
      • Hammoon
      • Hazelbury Bryan
      • Holnest
      • Ibberton
      • Iwerne Minster
      • Langton Long
      • Leigh
      • Mappowder
      • Margaret Marsh
      • Marnhull
      • Melbury Abbas
      • Melbury Bubb
      • Pimperne
      • Okeford Fitzpaine
      • Purse Caundle
      • Ryme Intrinseca
      • Shillingstone
      • Sixpenny Handley
      • Stockwood
      • Stourpaine
      • Tarrant Gunville
      • Tarrant Hinton
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      • Wareham St.Mary >
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      • Winterborne Came
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      • Wool
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    • West Dorset >
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      • Eype
      • Loders
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      • Netherbury
      • North Poorton
      • Powerstock
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      • Shipton Gorge
      • Lulworth Castle
      • Stoke Abbott
      • Symondsbury
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  • Quarries , Pits and Limekilns
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    • Upwey
    • Whiteway Hill Quarry
    • Winspit Quarry
    • Non-Dorset Quarries and Pits
  • Secular buildings
    • Athelhampton House
    • Blandford Town Hall
    • Cerne Abbas (village and Abbey)
    • Durweston Bridge
    • Ibberton Village
    • Kimmeridge Bay
    • Moignes Court
    • Non-Dorset Buildings
  • Search
  • Contact Us