The Spire, High Street, Poole. Built as the Wesleyan Methodist church
NGR: SZ01271 90810, 50.7169 -1.9834 Lead author: JT
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The ground floor of The Spire has been re-modelled in order to provide community facilities of a café, offices and meeting rooms. The first floor will be renovated in 2018 to provide further community facilities and a multi-purpose auditorium to be used for theatre, training events and worship.
The Wesleyan Methodist church was built between 1878 and 1880, to give more space for an expanding congregation at that time, replacing the brick-built church which had been built by the congregation as a meeting room after John Wesley preached in Poole. The foundation stone was laid in 1878, using Bath Stone. This was also used for the dressings of the church, with a dark grey stone used for the body of the walls. This dark grey stone has a laminated appearance, some blocks having thicker layers that contain fossil debris. The fossil debris can be recognised as being from crinoids and bivalves. Building records have named it as Somerset Black Rock, and the geology group have compared it with Lower Carboniferous Black Rock Limestone from Burrington Combe in the Mendips of Somerset. 
2. Side elevation, in Chapel Lane. Walling of Black Rock and dressings of Bath Stone.
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1. Front elevation of The Spire. The grey wall is Somerset Black Rock and the dressings all Bath Stone. The new centre doorways are of Stoke Ground Base Bed. The terrace has been paved with York Stone, and supported on a wall of Purbeck Limestone.
Large quarries exist in the Coombe, though we cannot be certain that is the precise source. Both the Bath Stone and the Black Rock Limestone would have been transported on the railway, Poole station being only a short distance from the building.
3. Quoin on the corner of Chapel Lane, the original Bath Stone, with a burrow.
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The interior has been considerably altered, but the original pillars of Shap granite remain. Although the walls are suitably thick, the interior is brick, made locally. The rear elevation, which adjoined the older brick meeting house, and the side elevation hidden by the adjacent shop, are also brick.
4. Several blocks of Somerset Black Rock, showing the laminated appearance.
The recent repairs used fresh Bath Stone, the Stoke Ground Base Bed from Limpley Stoke for the openings for new front doors and windows. The front terrace area has been created using York Stone for hard wearing, and Purbeck stone for the High Street wall.
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5. Closer view of Black Rock, showing some fossil debris.
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6. A piece of Black Rock which is beginning to crumble, showing more fossils. This crumbling is unusual, and may be due to placing the block upright instead of horizontal ‘on its bed’.
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7. The Bath Stone in the new centre front doorway, from Limpley Stoke.
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All photos by JT, text and photos by JT and P.Smith 6/18
