DORSET BUILDING STONE
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Church of St Michael, Winterborne Steepleton. Grade: 1 NGR: SY6291 289806
Lead author: PS

​The church (1) owes its Grade 1 status to surviving remnants of a pre Conquest 11th century church that stood on the site. These are large Portland stones which comprise the quoins at the S.E., N.W., and S.W. corners of the nave. A small stone reclining angel (2), now attached to the interior north wall of the chancel, is thought to be part of a rood screen and has also been dated to the 11th century. The church has the distinction of being only one of three churches in Dorset with a spire which was added in the 18th century (3).
Picture
1. View from the south
Picture
2. The reclining angel
The Exterior
The building is roofed in slate. The stone for building the church is probably from quarries on the Ridgeway nearby, where both Portland and Purbeck limestone have been quarried in past centuries. 
The western parts of both the north and south walls of the nave were rebuilt in the 12th century incorporating the 11th century Portland stone quoins. They are a mainly rubble blocks of Lower Purbeck Cypris Freestone with occasional blocks of Portland Stone (4). Occasional brownish blocks of Purbeck Marble can also be seen in the walling (5). The 15th century windows are of Ham Hill Stone (4).
Picture
3. The west tower
Picture
4. Ham Hill stone windows in S.W. Nave wall
Picture
5. Purbeck Marble in the Nave wall
Picture
6. The east wall of the chancel

​The chancel and western parts of the nave walls were rebuilt in the 15th century and also have later repairs. The walls are mainly Cypris Freestone, probably reused from the 12th century build. The east window, also Ham Hill Stone, is a 1902 replacement (6).
Picture
7. The west wall of the tower
Picture
8. The front of the south porch

​The lower part of the 14th century west tower is built with coursed Portland Stone with some lines of knapped Flints (7). The flints are likely to have been collected from the surrounding chalk hills. The lancet window in the west wall is also made of Portland Stone (7). The upper walls of the tower are mainly smaller blocks of Cypris Freestone. The buttresses are faced with Portland Stone with an infill of Cypris Freestone.
The front of the 14th-century south porch is constructed with knapped flints with courses of Cypris freestone (8). The side walls are rubble Cypris Freestone and occasional knapped flints. The outer doorway is made of blocks of both Cypris Freestone and Portland Stone (8). The floor of the porch is paved with Purbeck flag stones. The flag stones continue into the central aisle of the church where there is also a large dark slab of Purbeck Marble in the floor (10).
Picture
9. The south doorway
Picture
10. The interior from the west gallery

​Above the 12th century south door is a plain semicircular moulding probably made of Portland stone which may have been a hood moulding before the porch was added (9). The north doorway of the nave, which is now blocked, has a similar moulding.
The Interior (10)
The walls are plastered and also have fragments of medieval wall paintings (11). 
The font (12) has a 19th century bowl of oolitic limestone (13) on a late 12th century plinth of Purbeck Marble with a later Purbeck limestone base. Identification of the stone used for the bowl was unsatisfactory because of a historic coating of whitewash. Reference 1 states that it is Bath Stone, which is oolitic, but a firm identity could not be established.
Picture
12. The font
Picture
11. A medieval wall painting
Picture
13. Font bowl loupe

14. The Pulpit. The wooden pulpit is supported by a modern base of Ham stone and Portland stone (14).
The altar is a slab of Purbeck limestone with six consecration crosses on the upper surface (15). The black blobs in the photograph are candle wax.  There is also a piscina of Ham Hill Stone on the south wall of the chancel (16).
Picture
14. The Pulpit
Picture
15. An altar consecration cross
Picture
16. The piscina

The stone used to carve the 11th century reclining angel could not be determined. The size of the carving is approx. 50x35cm. and appears to have been given a preservative coating after it was removed from the exterior of the building in the 20th century. Before that it had spent many centuries open to the weather attached to the exterior south wall. In Jo Thomas’s book on Dorset stone, (ref. 4, page 65) it is described as possibly being a Purbeck limestone.
References:
  1. british-history.ac.uk/rchme/dorset/vol2/pp394-397
  2. historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1229137
  3.  britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/101229137-church-of-st-michael-winterbourne-steepleton
  4.  Thomas J., Dorset Stone, Dovecote Press ISBN978 1 904 34963 1
Text and images PS/01/20
Picture

© DORSET BUILDING STONE
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  • 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
      • Cornbrash
      • Forest Marble
      • Fuller's Earth Rock
      • Inferior Oolite
      • Bridport Sands
      • Junction Bed
      • Blue Lias
    • Dorset Bricks
    • Non-Dorset Stone >
      • Tertiary >
        • Bembridge Limestones - Isle Of Wight
      • Cretaceous >
        • Beer Stone - SE Devon
      • Jurassic >
        • Bath Stone - Somerset & Wilts
        • Blue Lias of Somerset
        • Doulting Stone - Somerset
        • 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 >
      • Devon Trails
      • Somerset Trails
    • Stone Index >
      • Stone Index A-B >
        • Abbotsbury Ironstone
        • Bath Stone
        • Beer Stone
        • Bembridge Stone
        • Binstead Stone
        • Blue Lias Stone
        • Bridport Sandstone
        • Broken Shell Limestone
        • Burr
        • Burton Limestone
      • Stone Index C-E >
        • Caen Stone
        • Carstone
        • Chert
        • Chilmark Lower Building Stone
        • Chilmark Main Building Stone
        • Chilmark Stone
        • Chilmark Upper Buiding Stone
        • Clavellata Beds
        • Cliff Stone
        • Clunch
        • Corallian
        • Cornbrash
        • Cypris Freestone
      • Stone Index F-O >
        • Featherbed Limestone
        • Featherstone
        • Forest Marble
        • Flint
        • Fuller's Earth Rock
        • Grey Chalk
        • Ham Hill Stone
        • Heathstone
        • Inferior Oolite
        • Ironstone
        • Lower Chalk
        • Lower Lias
        • Melbury Sandstone
        • Middle Chalk
        • Middle Lias
        • New Vein
        • Osmington Oolite
      • Stone Index P-T >
        • Portland Cherty Beds
        • Portland Cherty Series
        • Portland Stone
        • Purbeck Marble
        • Purbeck Stone
        • Quarr Stone
        • Rag
        • Sarsen Stone
        • Shaftesbury Sandstone
        • Sherborne Stone
        • Tisbury Stone
        • Todber Freestone
        • Trigonia Beds
      • Stone Index U-Z >
        • Upper Chalk
        • Wardour Lower Building Stone
        • Wardour Main Building Stone
        • Weald Clay
        • White Chalk
        • White Lias
        • Yeovil Stone
  • Churches
    • A-Z of Churches
    • 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
      • Tarrant Monkton
      • Tarrant Rushton
      • Todber
      • Winterborne Stickland
      • Winterborne Zelston
      • Woolland
      • Yetminster
    • South Dorset >
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      • Portland: Reforne
      • Steeple
      • Stinsford
      • Studland
      • Swanage
      • Upwey
      • Wareham St. Martin-on-the Walls
      • Wareham St.Mary >
        • St. Martin's-on-the-walls
      • Winterborne Came
      • Winterborne Steepleton
      • Wool
      • Worth Matravers
    • West Dorset >
      • Beaminster
      • Bothenhampton
      • Bradpole
      • Bridport
      • Broadwindsor
      • Burton Bradstock
      • Burstock
      • Catherston Leweston
      • Chelborough
      • Evershot
      • Eype
      • Loders
      • Monkton Wyld
      • Netherbury
      • North Poorton
      • Powerstock
      • St. Gabriel’s
      • Shipton Gorge
      • Lulworth Castle
      • Stoke Abbott
      • Symondsbury
      • Wootton Fitzpaine
      • Whitchurch Canonicorum
  • Quarries , Pits and Limekilns
    • Active Quarries
    • Abbotsbury area
    • Beacon Limestone Quarries
    • Inferior Oolite
    • North Dorset Corallian
    • Kimmeridge Bay
    • Portesham
    • Portland near Swanage
    • Purbeck near Swanage
    • Shaftesbury Sandstone
    • Uplyme Quarries
    • Upwey
    • Whiteway Hill Quarry
    • Winspit Quarry
    • Non-Dorset Quarries and Pits
  • Secular buildings
    • Athelhampton House
    • Blandford Town Hall
    • Cerne Abbas (village and Abbey)
    • Durweston Bridge
    • Ibberton Village
    • Kimmeridge Bay
    • Moignes Court
    • Non-Dorset Buildings
  • Search
  • Contact Us