St George's 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 ...

church in Oakdale, a suburb 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 ...

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 built in 1959–60 and has been

Grade II Listed 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 ...

since 1998.

History

The first purpose-built church to serve the population of Oakdale was erected in 1932 and is now in use as Oakdale Library. As the suburb's population rapidly grew and Oakdale became its own parish in 1938, a larger place of worship became necessary. The earliest efforts towards a new church dated to 1939 when £2,000 was bequeathed by Miss Gaskell and a one-acre site at Darby's Lane was donated by Mr. R. Aireton. In 1947, the ''

Western Gazette The ''Western Gazette'' is a regional newspaper, published every Thursday in Yeovil, Somerset, England. In 2012, Local World acquired owners Northcliffe Media from Daily Mail and General Trust. Trinity Mirror took control of Local World in ...

'' reported that Oakdale was in "urgent need" of a new church as the original St George's was consistently overcrowded. Enough funds for a replacement had been raised during the 1950s and the designs of St George's were drawn up by Robert Potter and Richard Hare. The foundation stone was laid on 25 April 1959 by

Maurice Key (John) Maurice Key (4 June 1905 – 21 December 1984) was the Anglican Bishop of Sherborne then Truro in the third quarter of the 20th century. He was educated at Rossall School and Pembroke College, Cambridge and ordained in 1928. Beginning his ...

Bishop of Sherborne The Bishop of Sherborne is an episcopal title which takes its name from the market town of Sherborne in Dorset, England. The see of Sherborne was established in around 705 by St Aldhelm, the Abbot of Malmesbury. This see was the mother diocese o ...

and the church was completed in 1960 and consecrated in July.

Architecture

St George's is built of red brick with copper sheeting on its roof. The building has a

cruciform Cruciform is a term for physical manifestations resembling a common cross or Christian cross. The label can be extended to architectural shapes, biology, art, and design. Cruciform architectural plan Christian churches are commonly described ...

plan with short transepts and a tower to the west. The church shares architectural similarities with the Church of the Ascension in

Crownhill Crownhill is an area of northern Plymouth, in the county of Devon, England. Overview It was originally known as Knackersknowle, meaning "the hill of the knacker's yard". In 1860 a fort was built on a high piece of land, just to the north west ...

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

, which was also designed by Potter and Hare, and opened in 1958.

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked wit ...

describes St George's as a "beautifully detailed and crafted church" which displays influences of

Ninian Comper Sir John Ninian Comper (10 June 1864 – 22 December 1960) was a Scottish architect; one of the last of the great Gothic Revival architects. His work almost entirely focused on the design, restoration and embellishment of churches, and the des ...

and the

Liturgical Movement The Liturgical Movement was a 19th-century and 20th-century movement of scholarship for the reform of worship. It began in the Catholic Church and spread to many other Christian churches including the Anglican Communion, Lutheran and some other Pro ...

References

External links

St George's Church Oakdale website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint George's Church, Oakdale Grade II listed churches in Dorset Church of England church buildings in Dorset Buildings and structures in Poole Buildings and structures completed in 1960 Churches in Poole