DORSET BUILDING STONE
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 The Church of St. John the Evangelist,Tolpuddle   (Lead author: Jo Thomas)

The church of St. John the Evangelist (SY79071 94499) was built in the 12th century, and enlarged in the 13th and 14th centuries. In Anglo-Saxon times the parish was owned by the Abbey at Abbotsbury, who also owned Portesham quarry. Therefore the use of Purbeck limestone, particularly the Cypris Freestone, quarried at Portesham, is to be expected.
Picture
St. John’s Church from the south, showing the south aisle and the porch. Photo: JT
The east wall of the chancel is entirely Cypris Freestone, but the remainder of the chancel is difficult to name precisely, though it is all Purbeck limestone. The tower is coursed flint, except for its upper stage, which appears, from ground level, to be Purbeck limestone, with buttresses of Purbeck Burr and other limestone. The west wall of the north aisle is banded flint and Purbeck limestone, the north wall flint with Cypris Freestone quoins and Bath Stone windows. There are scattered blocks of heathstone in the tower, the walls, and in the porch.
Picture
The east wall of the chancel at St. John’s is entirely Cypris Freestone, from the Portesham quarries. Photo: JT
Picture
The 13th century lower part of the tower at St. John’s is coursed flint, with a buttress of Purbeck Burr. Photo: JT
Picture
The walls of the north transept and north aisle of St. John’s church are a mixture of flint, Purbeck limestone and the occasional Heathstone block, with quoins of Cypris Freestone and windows of Bath Stone. Photo: JT
Picture

© DORSET BUILDING STONE
and contributors
  • 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
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      • Bridport Sands
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    • Non-Dorset Stone >
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        • Bembridge Limestones - Isle Of Wight
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        • Beer Stone - SE Devon
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        • Bath Stone - Somerset & Wilts
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        • 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
        • Bath Stone
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        • Bembridge Stone
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        • Broken Shell Limestone
        • Burr
        • Burton Limestone
      • Stone Index C-E >
        • Caen Stone
        • Carstone
        • Chert
        • Chilmark Lower Building Stone
        • Chilmark Main Building Stone
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        • Chilmark Upper Buiding Stone
        • Clavellata Beds
        • Cliff Stone
        • Clunch
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        • Cornbrash
        • Cypris Freestone
      • Stone Index F-O >
        • Featherbed Limestone
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        • Fuller's Earth Rock
        • Grey Chalk
        • Ham Hill Stone
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  • Churches
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    • 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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      • Worth Matravers
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      • Eype
      • Loders
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      • Netherbury
      • North Poorton
      • Powerstock
      • St. Gabriel’s
      • Shipton Gorge
      • Lulworth Castle
      • Stoke Abbott
      • Symondsbury
      • Wootton Fitzpaine
      • Whitchurch Canonicorum
  • Quarries , Pits and Limekilns
    • Active Quarries
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    • Inferior Oolite
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  • Secular buildings
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    • Blandford Town Hall
    • Cerne Abbas (village and Abbey)
    • Durweston Bridge
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    • Non-Dorset Buildings
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