St Mary's, Longfleet, (also called SML or SML Poole) is a

Church of England parish church A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ca ...

Longfleet Longfleet is a small district of Poole, Dorset centred on Longfleet Road. It is situated directly north of the town centre and lies to the east of Oakdale and to the south and west of Parkstone. History The area of Longfleet was originally par ...

, a district of

Poole Poole () is a large coastal town and seaport in Dorset, on the south coast of England. The town is east of Dorchester and adjoins Bournemouth to the east. Since 1 April 2019, the local authority is Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Counc ...

, in the

ceremonial county The counties and areas for the purposes of the lieutenancies, also referred to as the lieutenancy areas of England and informally known as ceremonial counties, are areas of England to which lords-lieutenant are appointed. Legally, the areas i ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

, on the south coast of England. It is part of the New Wine network and describes itself as an

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...

charismatic Charisma () is a personal quality of presence or charm that compels its subjects. Scholars in sociology, political science, psychology, and management reserve the term for a type of leadership seen as extraordinary; in these fields, the term "ch ...

church.

Location

St Mary's is located on the south side of Longfleet Road, just above

Poole Hospital Poole Hospital (also known as Poole General Hospital) is an acute general hospital in Poole, Dorset, England. Built in 1907, it has expanded from a basic 14-bed facility into a 789-bed hospital. It is the trauma centre for east Dorset and provid ...

. It has a prominent spire that may be seen for miles around.

History

St. Mary's is a

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

church that was built in the years 1830–33 and consecrated on 25 September 1833.''Longfleet Connections''
at freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com. Accessed on 24 September 2012. It built chiefly at the expense of Lord de Mauley>Wilson, John Marius. ''Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales'' 1870-72, a
Vision of Britain
Retrieved 4 Nov 2016. and was originally designed by

Edward Blore Edward Blore (13 September 1787 – 4 September 1879) was a 19th-century English landscape and architectural artist, architect and antiquary. Early career He was born in Derby, the son of the antiquarian writer Thomas Blore. Blore's backg ...

, but has been considerably modified since. In 1863, a

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ove ...

and organ chamber were added by G. E. Street and the year 1884 saw the western end enhanced by a spire, high, erected by G. R. Crickmay and Son. The spire was donated by William Pearce JP, a 19th-century Mayor of Poole, who resided at nearby Springfield House. There was further remodelling in 1915 which saw the

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

rebuilt with aisles and

transepts A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building withi ...

by Herbert Kendell of Poole. According to

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

, "in spite of a surprisingly complicated development, the church is an effective composition, whose major accent, the northwest tower and spire, is one of Poole's most important landmarks." In 1995 the church was assessed as a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. Longfleet parish was formed in 1837 from Great Canford. Its boundaries changed in 1946 when part of Longfleet became the new parish of Oakdale St George. The living was, and still is, a vicarage in the

Diocese of Salisbury The Diocese of Salisbury is a Church of England diocese in the south of England, within the ecclesiastical Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers most of Dorset (excepting the deaneries of Bournemouth and Christchurch, which fall within t ...

. Its patron in the 1870s was Sir J. B. Guest, Bart., who owned Canford Manor, now

Canford School Canford School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school for pupils aged 13–18). Situated in 300 acres of parkland near to the market town of Wimborne Minster in Dorset, south west England, it is one of the largest sch ...

Today

St. Mary's describes itself as a "vibrant

Church" and "a large multi-generational church with an informal atmosphere." The church is part of the

New Wine New Wine is a not-for-profit Christian evangelical organization based in the United Kingdom, that assists Christian churches with organizational leadership training and fundraising. The organization also holds its own annual summer conferences, ...

Network''St. Mary's Longfleet, Poole"
at www.smlpoole.org.uk. Accessed on 11 September 2012. and, has a congregation of around 700, which is the largest in the

. The church continues to serve the local community and has several Sunday School classes as well as ministries for men, women, youth, pastoral care, outreach and worship. It is very active and works with local authorities, e.g. through Faithworks Wessex, running projects like MON£Y MATT£RS, a money management and debt advice service, and Befrienders, linking up with people who are in need of companionship. The church also has close links with Longfleet Church of England Primary School, which was formerly opposite on Longfleet Road. The present incumbent, Rev. Andrew Perry, became the vicar of St. Mary's in 1995 and has overseen the church as its community has grown from 80 to around 800. He was installed as a

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western can ...

Salisbury Cathedral Salisbury Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an Anglican cathedral in Salisbury, England. The cathedral is the mother church of the Diocese of Salisbury and is the seat of the Bishop of Salisbury. The buildi ...

on 3 July 2012.

Church centre

In August 2011, St Mary's was granted planning permission to redevelop its church centre''SML Church Centre Building Project''
at www.smlpoole.org.uk. Accessed on 20 July 2013 as a facility for the church and local community. The church centre is in Kingston Road, but faces the church itself across Longfleet Road. Work commenced in May 2013 and a

pelican crossing A pelican crossing, or archaically pelicon crossing (PEdestrian LIght CONtrolled), is a type of pedestrian crossing with traffic signals for both pedestrians and vehicular traffic, activated by call buttons for pedestrians, with the walk signal ...

over Longfleet Road was installed. The new church centre was completed in May 2014 and officially opened on 23 September 2014 at a celebration attended by the

Bishop of Salisbury The Bishop of Salisbury is the ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of Salisbury in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers much of the counties of Wiltshire and Dorset. The see is in the City of Salisbury where the bishop's seat ...

, Nicholas Holtam. It is used regularly by

and local health charities.

Church graft

In April 2018, SML sent a new vicar, Rev. Tessa Nisbet, and around 20 church members to lead a 'church graft' at St Michael's Church,

Hamworthy Hamworthy is a village, parish, peninsula and suburb of Poole in Dorset, England. It is sited on a peninsula of approximately that is bordered by the town of Upton to the north, Poole Harbour to the south, Lytchett Bay to the west and Hol ...

, and St Gabriel's Church,

Turlin Moor Turlin Moor is a suburb of Poole in Dorset, England, located between Hamworthy and Upton. Turlin Moor is classed as part of the Hamworthy Community and is host to Hamworthy railway station. The two railway bridges at the end of the estate on ...

, in order to bring a new lease of life to the local community and turn around declining congregations.''Church graft in Hamworthy bids to improve declining congregation''
at www.bournemouthecho.co.uk. Retrieved 2 Jul 2018.

Gallery

File:Poole, the hospital and Longfleet St. Mary's in semi-silhouette - geograph.org.uk - 1430388.jpg, Poole Hospital and the spire of St Mary's seen across Poole Park Lake

References

External links

St Mary's Church: Official Site.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Mary's Church, Longfleet Church of England church buildings in Dorset Churches in Poole Grade II listed churches in Dorset Gothic Revival church buildings in England Gothic Revival architecture in Dorset