The Parish Church of St.Peter's, Purse Caundle
    ST69608 17599 (Lead author: PJB)

Purse Caundle is a small village one mile North of Milborne Port and four miles from the larger town of Sherborne. The Parish Church’s west tower and chancel-arch date from the 15th century. The north chapel dates from the early 16th century. The chancel was rebuilt in 1731. In 1883, the nave and south porch were rebuilt, and windows from former nave were reset in the chancel. Further restorations include the chancel in1896 and the tower in 1905.

The WWI War Memorial is cut in Ham Stone and course built round by size with local Fuller’s Earth Rock and
Forest Marble limestone. The former is creamier whilst the latter is bluer with white broken shell dots.  Image PJB

Uncommonly massive 19th Century? cleaned Fuller’s Earth Rock of the Tower. Image PB

Font with Forest Marble base and bowl of Ham Stone with a Fuller’s Earth Rock stem. Image: PB

The Parish Church of St. Peter’s, Purse Caundle. Photo: PB

The photograph (left) shows the three separate stages of the Tower. Above the clock there appear to be a few harder, coarser ashlar cut stones.  Further investigation required. Image: PJB

The Nave & Chancel South wall is mainly of Forest Marble and selectively covered in red algae/lichen. Image: PB

The side-porch arch is fine grained and has a few mollusc clasts. Despite weathering, it retains a brighter colour than the Fuller’s Earth Rock and a few Porch wall blocks similarly so and is perceived to be of Inferior Oolite, Sherborne Building Stone. Its notable re-cycled appearance is well documented. Image:PB

Remarkable 'Canopied table tomb’ of Fuller’s Earth Rock with a re-cycled (green/yellow) Purbeck Marble table. The broken moulding and other three edges confirm another prior use.This tomb is set between the Chantry and Sanctuary.Image: PB

The Purse Caundle Borehole, Dorset. Stratigraphy and Sedimentology of the Inferior Oolite and Fuller's Earth in the Sherborne Area of the Wessex Basin.
Map: BGS. (permissions statement required)

The west door-frame of now weathered Fuller’s Earth Rock matches this stage of the Tower itself. This window is Ham Stone and matches other windows that have undergone much weathering and a variety of replacements. Image: PB

The colour and texture of both the doorframe and the occasional use of matching blocks in the wall contrasts well with the Fuller’s Earth stone and occasional blocks of Forest Marble limestone. Image PB