Fleet Old Church is a

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

mortuary chapel in

Fleet Fleet may refer to: Vehicles *Fishing fleet *Naval fleet *Fleet vehicles, a pool of motor vehicles *Fleet Aircraft, the aircraft manufacturing company Places Canada *Fleet, Alberta, Canada, a hamlet England * The Fleet Lagoon, at Chesil Beach, ...

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 ...

, England. It was formerly the village's parish church until its partial destruction in the Great Storm of 1824. The surviving chancel is now 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 ...

History

A church at Fleet is known to have existed as early as 1086 when one was recorded in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

, with a monk from

Abbotsbury Abbey Abbotsbury Abbey, dedicated to Saint Peter, was a Benedictine monastery in the village of Abbotsbury in Dorset, England. The abbey was founded in the 11th century by King Cnut's thegn Orc and his wife Tola, who handsomely endowed the monastery wi ...

named Bolla as the village's priest. The church's surviving

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 ...

is believed to date to the 15th century, suggesting it was later rebuilt. The church was dedicated to Holy Trinity and belonged to the

Christchurch Priory Christchurch Priory is an ecclesiastical parish and former priory church in Christchurch in the English county of Dorset (formerly in Hampshire). It is one of the longest parish churches in the country and is as large as many of the Church of E ...

until the Dissolution of the Monasteries. In a 1552 survey of the "Church Goods of Dorset", Fleet's church was recorded as having a tower with two bells. The church's

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 ...

was significantly damaged in the Great Storm of 1824, which also destroyed a number of the village's houses. Owing to the extent of the church's damage, the Rector of Fleet, Rev. George Gould, decided to have a new church constructed at his expense. Designed by William Strickland and built in 1827–29, the new church of Holy Trinity was sited 540 yards inland from the original church. With the construction of the new church, the nave of the original was demolished in 1827, but the chancel was retained and repaired for use as a mortuary chapel. The church was featured in the 1898 novel '' Moonfleet'' by

J. Meade Falkner John Meade Falkner (8 May 1858 – 22 July 1932) was an English novelist and poet, best known for his 1898 novel '' Moonfleet''. An extremely successful businessman, he became chairman of the arms manufacturer Armstrong Whitworth durin ...

Architecture

The surviving chancel is built of local rubble, with freestone dressings and stone slate roofs. It has a window of 17th century origin, with the side walls each containing a blocked window. The interior has an arch-braced collar roof. A number of monuments survive within the building: one to Robert Mohun, dated 1603, one to Maximilian Mohun, dated 1612, and another to Francis Mohun, dated 1711–12. There is also a plaque dedicated to J. Meade Faulkner.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Churches in Dorset Church of England church buildings in Dorset Grade II* listed churches in Dorset