St. Michael and All Angels, Steeple. Grade 1 listed. NGR: SY 91136 80905. Lead author: PAS.
Steeple is a small hamlet comprising a church, manor house and a few cottages in the Purbeck Hills situated close to the road between Corfe Castle and Lulworth. Its medieval name was Stiple. Interestingly, despite its name the church does not have a steeple, but a tower. (According to the book 'Dorset Place Names' it comes from the Old English, meaning 'steep place'. KJH)
The exterior
A complete view of the church from the south is obscured by large yew trees (1) but from the north there is a good view (2). The building is roofed in Purbeck limestone slabs.
1. View from the south-east.
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2. View from the north side.
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Much of the original 12th century stonework survives in the exterior walls of the nave (3) which were heightened in the15th century. The stonework in the nave consists mainly of small rubble blocks of Lower Cretaceous Upper Purbeck Broken Shell Limestone (also locally called ‘Burr’) with some lighter coloured laminated limestone blocks (not specifically identified but probably Middle Purbeck) which are more numerous in the north wall (4). Many of the windows in the building are Burr (4).
3. Exterior of south wall.
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4. North wall of nave.
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A tower built of Burr ashlar was added in the 16th century (5). The west door was blocked in the 19th century to allow the installation of an organ. A small chapel/vestry was also added to the south side of the chancel. The north transept was added in the 17th century using small coursed blocks of Burr. The main claim to fame for visitors from the U.S.A. is the link to George Washington in the form of a coat-of-arms on the east wall of the north transept above a doorway (6). The Lawrence family who married into the Washington Family, ancestors of George Washington in the 14th century moved to Steeple and Creech Grange in 1540 living there until the branch of the family died out in 1691. The arms of Edward Lawrence, a beneficiary of the church in his lifetime, include the Washington component of stars and stripes. Again the local Burr was used.
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5. The tower.
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The original chancel and south porch were demolished in the mid 19th century (circa 1855) and re-built. The lower part of the east wall is ashlar with small blocks above. The stone used for the window is Portland limestone (7). The outer doorway (19th century) of the porch is also Portland limestone (8) but the inner Norman doorway is Burr. (not shown)
6. Lawrence Washington coat of arms
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7. The east wall of the chancel.
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8. The porch.
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The interior
The church interior walls are plastered. The chancel arch and the arch to the vestry are both built using Burr (9). There is a barrel organ in the north transept with a complete explanation of its workings. The floor is paved with Purbeck limestone flags. The stone used for the 13th century font (10) is a Portland limestone but the stem is Purbeck limestone (11 not identified). In the chancel wall is embedded a child’s tomb slab (12). Again the stone used is Burr.
9. The chancel arch.
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10.The font.
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11. Font stem loupe.
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12. Grave slab.
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13. Grave slab loupe.
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Historical and architectural sources
1) Pitfield, F.P. (1985) Purbeck Parish Churches, pp. 48– 50, Pub. Dorset Publishing Co. ISBN 0 902129 71 6.
2) ‘Steeple', in An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Dorset, Volume 2, accessed on line at:
British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/rchme/dorset/vol2/ (pp268-273)
PAS 2018-11-08
1) Pitfield, F.P. (1985) Purbeck Parish Churches, pp. 48– 50, Pub. Dorset Publishing Co. ISBN 0 902129 71 6.
2) ‘Steeple', in An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Dorset, Volume 2, accessed on line at:
British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/rchme/dorset/vol2/ (pp268-273)
PAS 2018-11-08
