St Edwold’s Church, Stockwood. Grade 1, NGR: ST59018 06924
Lead author: PS
St. Edwold was the brother of St Edmund, an Anglian king who was murdered in 870 on the orders of the Dane Ivar the Boneless. Edwold was offered the crown but declined and instead made his way to Dorset where he lived as a hermit near Cerne Abbas. The church is one of the smallest in England measuring 9.2m x 3.7m (30ft x12ft). The present building dates from the early 15th century although its dedication to St. Edwold suggests it was built on an earlier Saxon foundation.
The exterior (1)
The main building is roofed with slate tiles with Forest Marble stone slabs in the eaves and copings. The roof of the 17th century porch is roofed in Forest Marble slabs (2).
The main building is roofed with slate tiles with Forest Marble stone slabs in the eaves and copings. The roof of the 17th century porch is roofed in Forest Marble slabs (2).
1. St.Edwold's Church
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2. Forest Marble slates on the Porch roof
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The church is built almost entirely with Forest Marble rubble blocks but there are some knapped flints in the walls (4). The quoins and doorways are Ham Hill Stone (3). The 17th century bell turret is made of Ham Hill Stone.
3. Ham Hill Stone doorway on the porch
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4. Rubble walling with Flints
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The interior (6)
The interior is sparse as all the original fittings were removed some time after the early 18th century. Oddly the medieval piscina, also in Ham Hill stone can be seen on the exterior of the church on the south wall of the chancel (5).
The interior is sparse as all the original fittings were removed some time after the early 18th century. Oddly the medieval piscina, also in Ham Hill stone can be seen on the exterior of the church on the south wall of the chancel (5).
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5. The piscina
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6. The interior
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The font is a 19th century replacement and is mainly Corallian limestone. The bowl, base and plinth are all oolitic limestones with some shell debris. The bowl and base are probably Todber Freestone or Osmington Oolite (7); the plinth is a limestone containing large pieces of shell and is probably from the Trigonia Clavellata beds; the stem was not identified and is a very close grained uniformly grey stone which is not oolitic (8,9).
7. The font
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8. Font bowl loupe
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9. Font stem loupe
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References
Britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/101155008-parish-church-of-st-edwold-stockwood
Dorset-ancestors.com, Account by John Mowlem
Britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/101155008-parish-church-of-st-edwold-stockwood
Dorset-ancestors.com, Account by John Mowlem
Text and images PS/01/20
