St. Mary’s Church, Winterborne Zelston. NGR: SY89925 97735, Lat:50.7788 Long:-2.1446.
Lead authors: JT, PJB, WGT.
The west tower of St. Mary’s is the oldest part of the building, being built in the 15th century in three stages using Flint and Heathstone in the lowest stage, Heathstone rubble in the second and third stages and Heathstone ashlar in the parapet. The windows in the tower, its plinth and the quoins are all Heathstone. The semi-octagonal stair turret is also Heathstone, which has a smooth appearance, with even-sized rounded grains coated in iron oxide. [See 1, 2 & 3.]
1. 15th century west tower built of Flint and Lytchett Matravers Heathstone from south of the river in the first stage, with similar Heathstone in the higher stages. The plinth includes rougher Heathstone.
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1a. Plan of the church drawn by a village resident. Most of the church was rebuilt using Flint and Heathstone for the walls and Bath Stone for the dressings. The medieval windows and doorway were replaced as noted on the plan.
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The remainder of the nave, chancel, north aisle and south vestry were rebuilt in 1856 to1866, the architect being T.H. Wyatt who incorporated the original medieval material. Flint and Heathstone are banded in the walls, and Bath Stone is used for new windows and the plinth. The Heathstone used in the rebuild is mixed, much of it being of a rougher appearance, with sharp grains of sand in an iron-rich matrix. Older windows of the smooth Heathstone are reset in the north walls of the chancel and nave.
2. Loupe photo of Heathstone in the west window. Field of view 2 x 2 cm.
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3. Loupe photo of Heathstone quoin on southern corner of tower. Field of view 2 x 2 cm.
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The Heathstones came from the Tertiary beds on the higher ground south of the Winterborne stream, named by the British Geological Survey as the London Clay and Poole Formations. Both are repeating series of clays and sands deposited in land-based environments during a time of fluctuating sea levels. The London Clay Formation included beach environments – hence the more rounded grains of sand in the smooth stone named the Lytchett Matravers Sand, whereas the Poole Formation was deposited by a river and has a rougher appearance, often containing blebs of orange clay. The London Clay also includes the Warmwell Farm Sand, with sharp grains of sand giving a rougher appearance virtually indistinguishable from the Poole Formation. The iron-rich Heathstones formed as concretions within the sands which have, in many cases, weathered out from the outcrops during and since the last Ice Ages. These concretions were found by medieval masons in river gravels or were dug from small delves in the hillside.
4. Tower and the porch which was dressed for a wedding.
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4a. The porch in January 2019.
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The porch is a 19th century construction, and the inner doorway is Bath Stone. Where exposed to the weather, small pieces of shell are visible - but not on the inner archway. Bath Stone was carried by rail to Sturminster Marshall, then by road along the Winterborne valley.
5. Two windows east of the porch are of the same Bath Stone with scattered broken shell.
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5a. The window west of the porch is built of Heathstone, and said to be 15th century (RCHM). The wall in which it is set is similar to the lowest stage of the tower and may therefore be of the same date.
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6. The Heathstone doorway to the south vestry is from the 14th century.
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7. In the north wall of the chancel the Heathstone windows are 13th century.
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8. The north aisle windows are thought to be 19th century, but the uprights are weathering badly. Possibly these uprights are Corallian limestone from near Todber, and were replaced from the earlier church. The cills are Bath Stone.
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9. 16th century Heathstone windows have been reset in the west wall of the north aisle and the north wall of the nave.
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10. Doorway into the church, of Bath Stone.
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In the interior, the tower archway is of Heathstone, the inner north wall having a square niche which gives the appearance of a fireplace but there is no outlet for smoke. North of this arch in the western nave wall is a small Heathstone arch. Archways to the north aisle and to the chancel are of oolitic Bath Stone with occasional small pieces of fossil shells. The central octagonal pier in the arcade to the north aisle is white, rather than the warm orange/cream of the outer arches, but close examination shows that the texture is very much the same. The font is of a fine-grained white limestone with small fragments of fossil shell. This is probably Portland Freestone.
11. 15th century tower arch of Heathstone.
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12a. Arcade of Bath Stone.
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12b.Central octagonal pillar that is white rather than cream, but of the same texture.
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12e. Hexagonal white central pillar.
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13. Font of a fine white limestone that is probably Portland Freestone.
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Reference quoted in Image 5a. Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England. Online as RCHME, under British History Online.
Pete Bath, Jo Thomas and Geoff Townson 13.1.2019
Pete Bath, Jo Thomas and Geoff Townson 13.1.2019
